The Balance of Life
by LightMidnight
Summary: Caryn had always thought that she would be living a peaceful life in the sanctuary of Elysium, where immortal deities could reside together. Little did she know, that peace would soon be broken when terrifying beasts called Titans would wreak havoc on the human world. Will her prowess be enough to stop the seemingly unstoppable? Or will everyone perish? Levi x OC. **UNDER EDITING**
1. Decision

**A/N: If any of you have time, please go and follow/favorite/review my other SnK story. It would make me so happy!**

**Before I start, I just want to let everyone know that I don't really recognize age in my stories. I also am looking for beta readers to help me along the way. Fan art is appreciated as well (;**

**As this story will have gods in it, they will not be Greek. I am making up their names and abilities, and will be making it up as I see fit. I will also be starting in the middle of the anime, so if you haven't watched or read SnK, please do not read. I would not want to spoil this for anyone.**

**Thank you. Enjoy.**

****Edited as of 4/5/17.****

**(o~o~o)**

Elysium. A place known for its beauty and tranquility, and a place where deities can reside in peace as they see fit. It was taboo for something like havoc to happen, as this was a place of happiness, not calamity. To be frank, it was the perfect place for the gods to call home.

Until this peace was suddenly broken.

In a large, throne-like room sat Deitris, the queen deity herself. Perched in her well-cushioned chair, she sat staring while feeling troubled down at Earth through her golden chalice. It was a rare occasion when she did peek up on how the humans were getting by, but she still checked in on them nonetheless.

However, they were not doing well at _all._

Ferocious beings had suddenly appeared in their lands, causing all types of madness to stir. She was confused why they had suddenly just showed up, destroying everything in their path including the humans. Her navy eyes widened in horror at how they started devouring nearly the entire race.

"This is not good," she muttered to herself, her quiet voice echoing off the fire-lit walls. The guards that were standing near the doorway looked at her suspiciously, flicking their eyes towards there queen.

No. This was definitely not good at all. A goddess like her was meant to watch over the human race and guide them through tough times, but she hadn't had a clue as to how she would get rid of these beasts. The gods had created humans, after all; how could they leave them to fend for themselves? It broke her heart at the disturbance this was causing their lives.

There was no way that she could go down and aid them; she was the queen, she had duties to attend to. She had to stay in Elysium. She wrung the chalice's slim neck, setting it down on the marble table beside her. She would have to tell the other deities about this.

"Crocus," she called to one of her guards. He shuffled quickly towards his queen, bowing by the waist. "Call for a hearing. There is an important matter that my people deserve to know of."

"Do you wish for this to happen immediately, your Highness?" Crocus asked, slight worry shining in his brown eyes. He cared deeply for his superior, and her worry was bound to affect the rest of the servants as well. Deitris nodded.

"Yes. This cannot wait."

He bowed again, walking briskly towards the exit and calling out to another guard. He whispered in the guard's ear, sending him off quickly down the luxurious halls of the palace. Deitris sighed, messing with the ends of her golden-colored hair and furrowing her brows in deep thought.

"What must we do about this…?"

.

.

.

Quicker than she gave them credit for, the other high-ranking gods and goddesses began to pile into chairs that were strewn throughout the throne room, their loud voices irking the troubled queen. When everyone had been seated, she stood, calling everyone's attention to herself.

"Please quiet down, my friends. I have grave news to tell you all." She began, and worried whispers could be heard throughout the room.

"I wonder what has Deitris so nervous," one god had muttered.

"She is usually so calm... her troubles are undoubtedly for a good cause," another inputted. Deitris's eyes scanned over the medium-sized crowd.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. We will begin now." She took her seat, crossing one leg over the other.

"It has come to my attention that Earth, and the humans, have recently come under attack."

The whispers has started up again, this time more severe than before. The gods and goddesses looked at each other in shock and grief.

"Earth? Under attack?"

"Another war, perhaps?"

"Nonsense. Our queen would not bring us here if it was not graver than that."

"You are right. I would not." Deitris replied vaguely, and the room quieted again. A god with pale-green eyes and black hair stood, looking towards the queen for the right to speak. She nodded, allowing him to do so.

"Are you saying that this is a threat that we have not come across before, my queen?" he asked, raising a confused brow. Murmurs of agreement swept over the slightly hushed crowd. Deitris let out a soft sigh, nodding once to her subordinate.

"Yes, Aegeus. That is correct."

Aegeus nodded back, taking his seat. The queen flicked her eyes over to her chalice again, remembering the terrifying things she had seen on Earth. She had to admit that for once in her long-lived lifetime, she was frightened. Not for herself, but for the humans.

"In such short time, monstrous beings that the humans are calling 'Titans' have flooded Earths lands, terrorizing the peace and devouring humans without restraint. From what I have seen, it is far worse than I had imagined. If this continues, then the human race as we now know it will be extinguished. We _cannot _allow this to happen."

The queen's voice had sounded pained, and her underlings could tell that she was feeling just that. They were all shocked to see their proud ruler in such a state, and couldn't help but feel stricken for her. A goddess with similar traits stood, not waiting for Deitris to allow her to speak.

"If this is the case, Deitris," she spoke with familiarity to the queen. "Then we must send someone to aid the humans. We cannot let this chance slip."

"I agree, Calandra," the queen's voice was low with guilt, her gaze turning to the marble floors beneath her. It was the deities of Elysium's duty to watch over and protect the humans, but one had hardly ventured down to Earth for such a long visit. It was a strict rule to limit travel due of the risk of being exposed. Deitris knew that this rule would have to be broken, whether she had wanted it to or not. "But sister, who can we send? We cannot risk sending a god or goddess of higher status; they must uphold their positions here. If we are to send someone, they will have to have the experience as well as the knowledge of an older deity."

Calandra frowned, picking different scenarios in her head. Conceiving was rare in Elysium, so there were only a couple young gods to choose from...save for the few soldiers they could send. An idea (albeit hazardous) popped into her head. She knew that the gods she chose would be the only ones capable of leading humanity to victory, and she met her sister's eyes carefully.

"If that is your wish, then you know who we must ask."

It took a few seconds for the queen to understand her sister's proposition. When she finally had, however, Deitris's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You dare ask me to send my _children_ to fight? Your nephews and nieces?!" she spat, rage quickly consuming her. The walls began to shake, and the queen let off a frightening aura, scaring her subjects. They had never seen their queen so angry.

Calandra stared back, her gaze firm and resolute. She would not back down easily, after all, she knew how to take care of her sister if things had gotten out of hand. "You know that we have little to no options, Deitris. Your children are perhaps the only candidates suited for this mission.. They are old enough to make their own decisions now." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Why don't you see for yourself? Call on them and we shall see what their answers will be."

Deitris stiffened, her breath voluntarily shaking. Her children were the only thing left to remind her of her late husband, and if she had lost them to a battle on Earth, she would be more than devastated. But as much as she didn't want to admit it, Calandra was right. Their prowess far exceeded other deities despite her children's ages. The queen clenched her jaw, finally accepting before nodding her head hesitantly.

"…Very well. Call for them at once."

Crocus stuck his head out the door once again, alerting a guard on stand-by to call for the queen's children. The throne room was quiet for a few minutes, and no one dared to make a sound. Finally, the door opened, revealing two men that appeared to be in their early twenties. The striking resemblance to their mother wasn't hard to miss, and they were both very handsome. They had walked straight towards their mother, standing in front of her cautiously. Deitris's calm demeanor had almost broken at seeing her sons.

"Kalil, Eadric," she nodded, giving them a warm smile. She wanted to appear brave in front of them, not frightened. She knew that if her façade broke, the two of them would instantly worry for her and that would lead things off topic. "I have a proposition for the both of you."

Her sons had stood firm, waiting for her to continue like the generals they were. "Earth is being attacked, and I need to send one of you to assist them in their battles. I cannot send the both of you; it would be too large of a risk. I need you to decide immediately if you will help. I'm afraid that there isn't much time for me to give you."

Kalil and Eadric turned to look at each other, their matching brown-eyed gazes contemplating what their mother was saying. Kalil, being the oldest, replied first.

"And you want us to be completely honest with you, mother? Do we have a say in this matter?"

"Of course you do," she confirmed. "I do need your consent, after all. The choice is not entirely up to me."

Kalil's eyes hardened when meeting his mother's stare. "Then I do not wish to leave."

"I feel the same." Eadric echoed, crossing his broad arms over his metal-plated chest. Deitris's eyebrows shot up in disbelief, a bit shocked at how they blatantly turned down the request. She didn't expect her boys to be so blunt about it.

As much as she hated to ask, she had to. "And why is that?"

"We do not want to leave our home just to help greedy, self-centered beings," Eadric spat, his eyes full of fury. Kalil nodded, feeling the same way as his younger brother did.

"How could you say that?!" Deitris gasped, shocked at her son's outburst. "We crafted humans, Eadric. We are their gods; it is our sworn duty to watch over them and assist them! And here you find them unworthy of our protection? Whatever for?!"

"We have already made up our minds, mother," Kalil's voice was low, threatening as he spoke for both himself and his sibling. "I do not despise humans nearly as much as Eadric does...but that is not the point. We have always aided humans in their wars, and what have we gained in return? Nothing but an array of unappreciation and requests for more than what is already given." This time, Kalil's voice traveled over to the crowd to see their reactions. "I think we should see how well they fair against these so called Titans on their own. If this is unsatisfactory to you, then you may send anyone else but us. As the future king of Elysium, I still have much to learn about my position. I do not want to be reckless and leave knowledge behind for a war that I am unsure of."

In the span of his speech, the queen's gaze had lowered to the ground, and Kalil was afraid that he had said too much and successfully angered her. His mother looked at them again, her eyes glazing over in sadness. He instantly felt guilty for his actions. He loved her dearly and hadn't wanted to hurt her, but this was the decision he and his brother had made; he had wanted to stay in Elysium.

"I am very disappointed in you both." She sniffled, and her protective shell finally shattered as she let out a sob of anguish. She was hurting; for the humans, for her people, and for herself. How could they be called deities if they had let those below them perish?

Eadric felt his chest constrict almost painfully at seeing his mother, their _leader_, break down for the very first time in front of them. She was usually so strong-willed, and to let something like this sadden her was very frustrating to him. He clenched his fist, nearly breaking the skin there as his brother held their mother while she sobbed quietly, shushing her and trying to calm her back into a reliable state.

Suddenly, the doors to the room were thrown open, and a streak of white had dashed over to the front of the queen. It was identified as a wild-formed goddess with her determination set in her eyes.

"Forgive my late intrusion, but..." she sucked in a breath, even though she hardly needed it. "Mother, please allow me to go in their stead! Let me help save humanity!" She declared solidly, nervousness lacing her tone while she awaited Deitris's reply. At the sound of her daughter's voice, her head shot up from Kalil's shoulder, giving the snow-blonde girl a firm glare.

"Absolutely not, Caryn. This quest is too dangerous for you. You are much too young for something this advanced," Deitris replied, tone leaving no room for discussion. Caryn let out a low growl, not satisfied with her mother's answer. Young she may be, but she was still too old to be pestered and coddled like she was in her days of infancy.

"You know as well as I do that I am just as competent, if not _more so,_ than Eadric and Kalil. I have been training with them my entire life! What difference would it make should you send them or I?" the goddess's eyes blazed with defiance, brightening with each word she spoke. "I understand that I am not as old, but I am perfectly capable of traveling to Earth despite my age!"

"Do you even know the dangers of traveling alone, girl? You will be by yourself, learning the ways of the humans in a short amount of time without little guidance from us...and that us without you giving your true nature away so suddenly." Deitris challenged, looking down at her daughter. She was the spitting image of her father. Although Caryn had inherited her mother's blonde, almost white hair, she had her father's hazel-blue eyes and even had the same dimple in her right cheek that he had when he smiled. It was almost as if the queen was seeing her love right in front of her; only in female form.

"I know, and I do not doubt myself in the slightest. Please, believe in me, mother!" Caryn pleaded, her eyes begging to be accepted. "Please. I could be of help, you know I could."

The air was thick with tension as seconds ticked by without a sound, and you would even be able to hear a pin drop. Finally, the queen sighed, walking towards her daughter and placing her hands on her soft cheeks.

"I will allow this." Caryn was nearly about to let out a yip of happiness, but her mother spoke first. "But on one condition. You help annihilate the Titans, and at the same time, refrain from giving yourself away. It will take time for the humans to contemplate what you truly are."

"Doesn't that count as two conditions, mother?" the blonde teased, sending Deitris a dazzling grin that she saved for this particular moment. The queen smiled genuinly for the first time that day, her mood instantly picking up. It was a beautiful smile that matched her daughters.

"Perhaps." She teased back, ruffling Caryn's hair back. "You are to leave in one week. I expect you to train twice as hard with your brothers, and pack the things that you need the most. Remember to only pack the most important, and not those that will hold you down while traveling."

Her daughter had let out a squeal, nodding her head quickly and dashing back out of the throne room, her brothers following stiffly as the doors shut with a soft '_click'_. Deitris let out an involuntary sigh, running a hand through her blonde locks.

'_Why do I feel as if I am going to regret this?' _she thought bitterly, her eyes scanning over the crowd of gods and goddesses. She had almost forgotten that they were here with her, considering they were patiently waiting for her decree. She spoke out to them.

"The matter has now been decided. Caryn will be aiding the human's fight against the Titans. It is not known for sure if she will eradicate them all, but it will hopefully be enough to come close to it. We can only pray for the best." She glided back up the steps, sitting back in her comfy chair. "If any of you have strategy or knowledge on how to assist her with her quest, please let me know. You are all dismissed."

As the deities began to file out of the throne room, Deitris's mind began to swim with nervous and unprepared thoughts. She wondered how her father and grandfathers before her had dealt with such travesties, and shook her head. They must have had the utmost patience when dealing with Earth. Her thoughts then traveled back to Caryn.

She was so young, and had yet to witness the horrors of the human world. How would she take seeing such death for the first time? Worry flooded throughout her body. She was an innocent soul and had yet to be tarnished by the so-called 'beauty' of mortal life. She just hoped that Caryn was truly ready for this.

'_Do not fail me, daughter of mine. The hope of humanity rests in your hands now."_

**(o~o~o~)**

**Hope that wasn't too confusing for anyone to comprehend. This is just the first chapter, and it is more an informational one. R&amp;R please!**


	2. Encounter

**A/N: Thank you to my first four followers and my first reviewer for reading the first chapter! I'm happy you guys like it so far.**

**I couldn't mention this in the summary, but there WILL be future lemons, as this is rated M for that and for potty-mouthed people. There are also spoilers so if you haven't watched the anime yet or read the manga, don't read this. I wouldn't want to spoil the experience for you.**

**Carry on~**

**(o~o~o~)**

"I _know _you can hit harder than that, brother."

"Don't test my patience, Caryn."

Said blonde smirked, blocking another enraged fist that Eadric had sent flying at her. No matter how many times he hit or tried to hit her, it hadn't made her flinch one bit. It was irritating, to say in the least.

"You're quite the hot-head, Eadric. That was basically a compliment." She dodged out of the way as a beefy-legged kick was thrown, trying to knock her small frame over. She was a lot quicker than her brothers, so things that took time to connect couldn't reach her.

"Would you like to see how much of a _hot-head _I can really be?" Eadric growled, dancing a few feet away and igniting fire in the palm of his hand. Caryn rolled her eyes. Her brother was always easily angered, and when he wanted things to end quickly, he always had used his element skill; fire.

"Fine with me. You know I can just put that out," the female deity taunted, calling her own element forward. She was able to use any type of water style, including ice. She could even combine the two with wind if she set her mind to it. That was the power that was passed down from her mother. Although, she was a bit jealous that the queen possessed all of the elements.

"You believe that a tiny gust of wind could blow out my elite flame?" Eadric scoffed, charging towards her with a flaming fist. "The thought is amusing."

Caryn's eyebrow twitched. '_Tiny?'_

"You underestimate my winds, dear brother. Even though I am the youngest, I am treated no differently from you and Kadir. That includes the privileges of being the queen's daughter." She had stayed in one spot, the winds picking up in her hands to a frightening speed. When Eadric was nearly in front of her, she sent them spiraling towards him, extinguishing the flame and knocking him off of his feet. He crashed into a nearby pillar, causing the surface to crack and sending him down into a sitting position, the cocky grin now off of his face.

Caryn grinned knowingly. "I win this match."

The look on Eadric's face was nothing less than priceless; after all, he had just been beaten by his younger sister, and with wind nonetheless!

'_Wait just a minute,'_ he stood, brushing off his clothes and lifting a confused brow. '_That was no ordinary gust of wind.'_

"When did you learn how to use the Divine Wind?!" he gasped, a look of pure shock now settling his features. Caryn put her hands on her hips, walking towards him with a triumphant look.

"Mother had taught me not too long ago. I was also given the Winds and Waves of Elysium from the element keeper."

"_What?!_" Eadric roared, making the blonde goddess flinch. "And why is that?!"

"Your jealousy is unbecoming," Caryn rolled her hazel-blue eyes. "Have you already forgotten about my quest? Mother had them deliver the skills to me so that I could use them to my advantage during battle."

The blonde-haired male narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course I haven't forgotten, but is she insane?! I thought you weren't supposed to reveal your identity to the humans! Does she want to expose us?!"

Caryn glared, and Eadric let out a yelp when she had pinched his arm. This was not the time or place to be causing an unnecessary problem. "No, you fool. I am only allowed to use them if the situation is dangerous enough. Have faith in me."

He looked at her before sighing, placing a comforting hand on her head. "I still don't fully understand as to why you want to help those sniveling little humans. What good comes out of it?"

Caryn pouted, a bit angered at the hate Eadric had showed for humanity. "A peaceful world comes out of it. And why do you hate humans so much? You never had cared enough to tell me the reason."

She felt his hand stiffen, bringing it back down to his side and clenching it into a hard ball. Almost as if he wanted to break skin. It was quiet for a few seconds before he let out a shaky answer.

"It is not important. That is enough for today, go clean up."

He turned his back on her and began to walk back through the courtyard, towards the steps to the large palace. Caryn let out an unamused sound and shuffled quickly after him, grabbing onto the back of his top. "But you didn't answer my—"

"I _said, _that's _enough._" He snapped, glaring at her over his shoulder before shaking her off and disappearing inside. Caryn's mouth dropped open at the hostility her brother showed her. Yes, he was easily angered, but he had never been angered to the point where he had snapped at her. He was actually very kind towards her. The young deity began to worry for her brother, biting her lip and taking a seat on the palace steps. A goblet was left there with a clean cloth, the liquid inside the golden interior glinting with the sun on its surface.

Caryn sighed, deciding to forget how rude her brother was being and picked up the shimmering drink, smiling at the taste.

"Ambrosia water? I haven't had a drink of this in a while…"

"Don't say it like that, Caryn. It makes you sound elderly."

She looked up when she heard the teasing voice come from above her, the eldest son and her older brother Kadir looking down at her with warm eyes. Her eyes brightened at seeing the elder male, and he took a seat next to her. His kind expression had faltered a bit upon studying her, a frown marring his handsome face.

"You are feeling troubled," it was a statement, not a question. "Why?"

'_Damn emotion reader,_' she grumbled in her mind, giving her brother a sad smile.

"It seems I have angered Eadric while sparring with him again. But this time, he was more hostile than usual."

"I see," he leaned his elbows onto his knees, looking at her curiously. "Did you say something to him?"

"I asked him why he hated humans so much. But that isn't something he should get mad at me for, right?"

Kadir looked away in thought, leaning his cheek into the palm of his hand. "That is something I don't know either. He has never told me the reason. But that's not all, is it?"

Caryn looked down at her feet, the gold sandals sparkling under the sunlight. She wiggled her toes, staring at them in mild fascination. "I suppose not. But what else could there be?"

"Perhaps he is just frightened for you," Kadir replied, scratching behind his ear. His sister let out a confused sound.

"Why would he be frightened for me?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and playing with the ends of her hair. She had hoped that when she traveled to earth, she would not have to cut it. That was one of the many attributes that she had liked about herself.

"He does not want you to be killed on your quest. He does not want to lose you. And neither do I."

His gaze hardened, and he looked at her with calculating eyes. "I understand why you want to go, but please be careful. We do not want to lose our only sister. Caryn groaned, pushing her brother on his shoulder, the muscles bunching under the unwelcoming touch. "Shush. You know that we can't die in a world that isn't our own."

"I know that," Kadir shook his head, his brown strands falling into his eyes as they glittered with an unknown emotion. "But you can still lose consciousness from injury and fall under a coma. Which brings us to another problem; how are you going to avoid getting cut in front of the humans?"

The blonde goddess gasped in realization. She had forgotten that when a god's blood was shed, it turned a gold color before healing up in a matter of seconds. Of course, she didn't plan on ever shedding said blood.

"Guess I'll have to avoid being injured then, right?" she joked, patting Kadir on the shoulder. He rolled his eyes, pushing her hand away and standing up.

"Let's hope you can, then. Come now, you need to clean yourself and dinner will be ready soon. We wouldn't want the maids to come looking for us and scolding us, yeah?"

He outstretched his hand, hoisting her up and mussing up the blonde locks of hair on her head. The winged laurel that sat upon the tresses was tilted crookedly, and Caryn pouted, rushing to fix the jeweled piece. Kadir let out a booming laugh, striding up the rest of the steps and disappearing behind the large doors.

Caryn's eyes wandered after him, and her thoughts had begun to be disruptive again. '_Let's hope, indeed._'

Following the burly male suit, her small but proud figure opened the door and let it shut behind her with an echoed '_click_'.

**(o~o~o~)**

'_**Knock Knock**__'_

Caryn shuffled around in her bed, groaning in irritation at the annoying knocks at the door of her bedchambers. Sitting up, she glared at the door, although it didn't look too threatening with her disheveled appearance.

'_Whoever's at the door, go away.' _She growled mentally, half-praying that whoever was on the other side of the door heard her thoughts. When a second set of knocks came, with more force this time, she growled, kicking off the satin covers and stomping towards the door.

Throwing it open, she glared at the person behind it. "Do you have any idea what time—"she stopped speaking when she came face to face with a determined looking Kadir, his arms full of sacks containing who knows what.

"Kadir? What are you—"

"Get your things and get dressed," he ordered, turning his back on his sister and filing down the hallway. "After you're ready, come meet me in the portal room."

Caryn's eyebrows shot up in confusion, poking her head around the doorway and watching his receding back. She replied in a loud whisper. "Wait! What about the guards?! Won't they see us?!"

He stopped, turning his head to look at her. "They have been told to keep quiet. Now don't waste time, hurry up." And with that, he turned the corner. The tired goddess lifted a confused brow, returning into her room and shutting the door. She was wondering why her brother asked her to visit the portal room with him, but quickly thought nothing of it and began to get dressed, grabbing her pack filled with common snacks and waters. She slung it around her shoulder, not caring to put her hair up and exiting out of her room, filing down the way that her brother came and disappeared to.

"Why must brothers be so blunt," she grumbled to herself, looking left and right in caution for the guards. Kadir was right, they wouldn't be finding her anytime soon. Making a slight left, she came to a crystalized door, the letters of their language splayed across the top. She was relieved that she was taught the Elysian language in her earlier years, but even more so that she learned most of the human languages. The blonde deity knew they would come in handy someday.

She pushed open the cracked door, cringing at the slightly loud creak it made and filed inside, looking for her brother who stood by Earth's portal. It was a large, pool-like structure that was on the stone wall, the torches reflecting off the water-like surface. Caryn gasped when she saw that it was activated, and the ripples inside the portal were moving ever so slowly.

"Why is the portal turned on?!" she asked haughtily, glaring at Kadir who looked nothing short of stoic. The brunette prince shrugged, motioning for her to move closer.

"What does it look it? You're going to Earth." He answered matter-of-factly, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling. His younger sister's mouth dropped open unnatratively, sputtering words that he couldn't make out. His smile widened.

"W-What do you mean, _I'm going to Earth_?! Mother said I'm not supposed to leave for another six days!" Caryn scolded, moving her hands widely. Kadir rolled his eyes, an unlikely thing for him to do, and grabbed her hands, stopping them from swinging around.

"Oh spare me, Caryn. I know how desperate you are to leave as soon as possible. I'm doing you a favor, so just pass over already."

"If I leave too soon, Mother will kill me," she said through clenched teeth, her eyes widening in realization. She had forgotten about how mad her Mother gets when disobeyed. She was a lovely woman; when you didn't get on her bad side.

"I have already talked to Aunt Calandra about restraining her if things go badly," he assured, pushing her gently towards the portal. "And besides, you _know _how differently time passes between Elysium and Earth. If you don't go soon, it may be too late."

Caryn froze. That's right. Years could have already passed on Earth, and the Titans could have already destroyed humanity. She shivered, hoping that she was wrong. Turning her gaze onto her beloved brother, she nodded resolutely, her eyes firm.

"Alright. I'll go." She stepped up to the portal, getting ready to pass through. Kadir nodded approvingly, a proud grin on his face. Another thought poked into the blonde's already thought-filled head.

"Do you have any idea as to where I will end up when I travel through?"

Kadir thought for a moment, scratching his chin. He hadn't contemplated this earlier. "Disappointingly, I don't. You could arrive anywhere on Earth."

"Eh?! Then what happens if I arrive somewhere that's not even close to the humans?!" she snapped, infuriated that her brother would not think of this sooner. He just shrugged, giving a shaky laugh.

"You could try focusing on where you want to end up. That could work."

Caryn rolled her eyes, facing the portal again and taking a deep, nervous breath. "I'll trust your judgement, but if I get stuck in the middle of nowhere, you're coming to get me."

"Fair enough. Oh! I almost forgot," he reached by his side, pulling a shiny black-glinted sword of out of his holster. Caryn's eyes widened excitedly, and she grinned from ear-to-ear.

"You're giving me Exodus?!" she squealed, taking the beautifully crafted sword from his hands and holding it up in the light. It was a rather strange sword, with the handle and blade being an obsidian black and the sharp edges a grey-silver. Instead of middle being a flat, solid surface, it was cut out with an element generator, the rods parts weaving around it until they reached the winged end, appearing much like an Aegeus staff. Despite the size and characteristics, it was rather light. "But this is Elysium's strongest sword! And wasn't this a gift?"

Kadir waved a hand nonchalantly. "Yes, but I want to entrust it to you until you finish your quest. Besides, you are going to need it a lot more than I will."

"But I thought it only works with flames…?" she muttered, still studying the famous sword. The prince scoffed, placing his arms back over his chest and frowning at his rambling sibling.

"Would you rather I take it back?"

"N-No! I want it!" she squeaked, putting it through a loop that was on her chained belt. Kadir grinned knowingly, pulling her in for a tight hug. Caryn sank into the warmth, wrapping her arms around her brother lovingly. This was the last embrace that she would feel from one of her family members.

"I'm going to miss you, bloody brat." He teased lightly, pecking her on the forehead and patting her cheek as he pulled away. The faintest of tears could be seen on the girl's waterline, but she didn't allow them to fall as she smiled brightly.

"I'll miss you too. Wish me the best of luck." She stepped closer to the portal, about to descend but had an afterthought, looking back with a sneaky grin. "Oh, and Kadir?"

"Yes?"

"Don't let Mother kill you, or destroy anything."

And before he could give a snappy retort, she stepped into the portal, out of sight. The portal let off a bright light before deactivating, looking like a normal wall now. Kadir clicked his tongue, scoffing quietly.

"That girl is going to get it when she returns."

'_Be safe, sister. We will watch over you.'_ He smiled, closing the crystal doors behind him as he made his descend down the marble floored hallways.

'_And don't worry, we'll take care of Mother._' He added as an afterthought.

**(o~o~o~)**

'_This feels rather weird…'_

Caryn could only think to herself for a moment as she felt like she was being sucked into a black abyss, the world dark around her. She knew it would take a bit of time passing over to Earth, but this was just ridiculous. It had been almost twenty minutes, and she was a tired of waiting.

"Any moment now!" she shouted into the darkness, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing as she floated through blank space. Her thoughts began to wander freely again.

'_What will I do when I get there?'_

The blonde goddess had knew that when she arrived on Earth, she would have to change her ways and behave like the humans did. It shouldn't be that hard, considering that they were similar to the deities of Elysium.

Right?

A sigh echoed through the darkness. One could only hope. It shouldn't be that much of a change.

A dim light appeared ahead of her, and she let out a relieved sound. '_Finally' _she thought happily as the light had gotten brighter, consuming her and whitening her vision as she felt herself touch the ground again, a soft wind ruffling through her hair. When the light dimmed again, she could finally see her new surroundings.

She was standing in the middle of a field, a couple of barren houses and trees here and there. They look unused, though. Behind her, there was a line of trees that she assumed to be a forest. Doing a full 360, she spun and took in the rest of the sight. It wasn't that much different from Elysium; blue skies, crisp-green trees and grass. The only difference is that it didn't smell nearly as clean and the houses weren't as luxurious.

The shocking thing was, that there were no humans around. No humans, no livestock, animals, or even Titans. Her eyes widened in horror. Had she been too late?

'_No, I can smell that someone was already here…wait, what's that sound?'_

Turning her head to the forest line again, she could see bodies come out of the foliage on horseback, the sound of hooves hitting the ground piercing her ears again. One followed after the other, and there were seven in total. As they got closer, she could make out that they were humans. She hid behind a nearby tree as they approached.

They were wearing green cloaks that were billowing behind them, a weird wing-patterned logo on the backs of them. She could barely make out the tan jackets and white pants they were wearing as well, and they had straps all over their bodies that were carrying a strange metal-looking device.

'_Human attire sure is strange.'_

The two females and five males were bickering back and forth to each other, and she listened in, using advanced hearing on them. A god could hear a lot farther than a human could, so she used that trait to her advantage.

"Damnit, four-eyes! You just had to be an idiot and leave your squad to confront those ugly bastards, didn't you?!" The leading male, who had a harsh appearance, barked at the female riding beside him. She was wearing glasses and had a crazed look on her face.

"I couldn't help it! And look on the bright side, we have enough test subjects now!" she squealed in delight, looking behind her. The trees behind them began to sway and act up, and besides that, Caryn could feel the rumbling of the ground under the soles of her feet.

"Corporal! They're getting closer!" the other female, who had a soft and girlish appearance warned, and Caryn's eyes widened to the size of saucers when the beings swarmed out of the trees.

'_Are those…Titans?!'_

The creatures were huge and _grotesque_, to begin with. The stood at about 5-10 meters tall, each one of them naked. Even so, they did not look to have any reproductive limbs. Some of them had frightening grins, and some of them had frowns. Some even ran differently. In all, they mostly looked like giant, mutated humans. The blonde deity felt herself shiver.

"How many are there, Petra?" the man she called Corporal asked, not taking the time to look behind him. The girl, now named Petra, looked behind her and counted them.

"There are seven in total. Two abnormal and five regulars! We're at a great disadvantage!"

With a _'tch'_ sound, the man clicked his tongue and looked at a young male with green eyes behind him. "Eren, fire the signal."

"Y-Yes, sir!" said boy reached to his side, grabbing a tool that Caryn thought to be a gun and loading it, shooting a line of black smoke into the air. She made a mental note to find out what those were later.

"Is everyone out of gas?" the Corporal asked his squad, still continuing to look forward even with the Titans on his heels.

"I'm out!"

"Me too!"

"Damnit, I am too!"

"Sorry, so am I!"

"Eren and I lost the gear to those Titans, ehe…" the woman with glasses laughed nervously, and the leader glared at her before looking ahead again.

"And I'm out too, thanks to shitty-glasses here," he muttered. An idea had popped into his head then. "Eren, I know you're not really supposed to, but I'm going to need you to shift."

"What?! But Commander—"

"I know what Erwin said," he snapped irritably at the younger male. Eren flinched, eyeing the mane of his horse instead of his Captain. "He isn't here right now, and you've already shown that you have pretty good control. It will be too hard to maneuver without enough trees around, and even so, we're all out of gas. We don't have a choice. Now do it."

The green-eyed male nodded hesitantly, bringing his thumb to his mouth and hovering over it. Suddenly (and to Caryn's disgust) he bit down, hard enough to make himself bleed and cut into his skin. But nothing happened.

He looked shocked at how nothing had seemed to work. "I-It's not working, Corporal!"

"Shit," a blonde-haired male with a cloth tied around his neck, just like the Corporal, seethed. "Out of all of the times in the world, it doesn't work now?!"

"We're just going to have to try and outrun them, then." Said Corporal added, spurring his horse on faster. They were close to Caryn now, and she bit her lip in contemplation. If she helped them now, her identity would surely be revealed and they would question her sudden appearance in the middle of a stranded field.

Suddenly, one of the Titans had sped up, it's head lolled to the side as his arms swung down and reached for one of the humans. Caryn's eyes widened in horror as the Titan (seemingly one that they had called an abnormal) grabbed said human and caused the rest of the squad to scatter.

"Gunther!" Eren had called out frantically to his comrade, watching as the male with a strange hairstyle yelled in fear, quickly using a type of dual blades to cut himself out of the Titans grasp. Its fingers were sliced off, and the male was dropped onto the ground with an '_oomph'._

The horses had been spooked away, running from the scene and leaving their riders there to fend for themselves. The squad had backed themselves into a circle, the seven titans walking dangerously slow towards the group, ready to capture their pray.

"Stay close and draw your blades! Don't break the formation, or we're fucked!" The Corporal barked his orders at his squad, a look of pure fear etched into every one of their features except for his and the glasses woman.

Caryn held fear for all of the humans and their lives. She could save them; she could help them get away and live. If she drew her sword…

No.

The young goddess grabbed Exodus and clenched the hilt, gritting her teeth in turmoil. She could slay these Titans and slay them all…

No.

She could be their savior, their ally. If she'd only just…

_No._

Finally, Caryn threw her hands into the air, cursing the high heavens above her.

"Rules be damned, I'm helping them!" she snapped at the sky, unsheathing Exodus and grasping it in her right hand, running with intense speed towards the Titans that began to surround the humans, adrenaline fueling her body and powerful strides.

'_You're first!' _she mentally picked out one of the Titans, leaping with great force and slicing it on the back of its head. Without warning, the creature turned, smacking the goddess away from it. She barreled into the ground, a gasp of slight pain coming out of her mouth.

"Impossible," she breathed, watching as the Titan turned back around again towards the humans. "Exodus kills anything it punctures!"

She rose to her feet, clutching said weapon and glaring at the strong monster. "Unless…it has some sort of weak spot…"

'_Then I'll just use this.'_

"Rogue Sight," Caryn muttered under her breath, feeling the power turn her eyes a gold color as they adjusted, turning everything in sight to only three vibrant colors. The infrared sight that was passed down from her grandfather had come in handy for something like this.

Most of her surroundings turned blue, while the living creatures turned yellow and their weak spots turned red. She narrowed her eyes, zooming in on the only red spot on the Titan. The nape of its neck.

Smirking triumphantly, she dashed towards the creatures, jumping onto the Titans back and running up it with insane speed, giving the nape of its neck a strong swipe with Exodus. In no time at all, the Titan began to fall backwards, the red color disappearing and signaling its death.

Not giving any more of the Titans a chance to register that she was there, she moved on from one to the other, only to be seen as a blonde blur as she swiftly and skillfully killed all of the Titans in seconds. When the last one had finally dropped, she landed gracefully on the ground in front of the group, startling them. They had looks of awe and amazement on their face, with a hint of confusion. Even their stoic leader had a look of pure disbelief on his frown-marred face.

She smiled as if none of the steaming Titans around her fazed her, sheathing Exodus again and nodding her head to the humans.

"H-Hello there," she spoke nervously, placing her hands behind her back. Finally, for the first time in her life, she had met humans. Even though they looked quite afraid of the strange phenomenon that just occurred, they were curious as to who she was.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody even moved.

That is, until the Corporal opened his mouth, narrowing his steely gaze onto the goddess.

"Who the hell are you, and _how _the _hell _did you do that?"

Caryn frowned. She expected that type of question to be first anyways, and she smiled nervously, giving a little laugh of hesitance.

"Uh-Uhm…"

Before she could give a suitable reply, a large figure towered over the group, causing the blonde to gasp.

'_Another one?!'_

"Look out!" she screamed, running to the side of the Corporal and pushing him out of harm's way, the force of the push sending him and his subordinates barreling farther away from the Titans reach. Before she could protect herself or move, a large hand came down, hitting the goddesses small body with such great strength, she went flying into one of the cottages that was a great few feet away from her.

Caryn hit the building, crying out in pain as she felt a few of her bones snap in her torso and lower body. A wet liquid, probably blood, trickled down the side of her head and a few other cuts as her Rogue Vison turned off, going back to normal and blurring her eyesight. She saw the group attacking the Titan all at once, bringing it down with easy finesse.

The blonde deity's eyes fluttered closed, and her head dipped as her body fell from the side of the cottage and onto the floor, causing another slight jolt of pain to wrack her body. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't see. And that feeling frightened her.

'_Mot…her…I revealed my secret. I'm truly sorry.'_

That was the last thought she could think of as her vision darkened completely, taking consciousness away from her and casting her into an unfeeling, black abyss.

**(o~o~o~)**

**Hope you guys liked it! I finished at 12 A.M, and it's a long one. I usually don't do long chapters for the first few, but hey, It was getting good, so I had to keep writing!**

**Thanks for reading, Follow, R&amp;R please! I'd be grateful! **

**~M**


	3. Confessions

**A/N: I'm so happy that you guys have reviewed and followed my story so far. Thank you! You guys are awesome. My schedule is a little crazy, so I'll try to fit as many chapters as possible between it.**

**Onward~**

**(o~o~o~)**

_Thump thump, thump thump,_

'_What…is this?'_

_Thump thump, thump thump,_

'_What's that sound?'_

Now aware that she was gaining her consciousness back, Caryn felt herself pressed up against something warm, and could feel herself being jostled around a bit. She could also hear a strange sound through the fabric that was pressed against her ear.

'_Is that a…heartbeat?'_

Her eyelashes slowly fluttered open, and despite feeling groggy and weak, she opened her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurred, but she could see the tan sleeve that was wrapped around her, and the horses head on the left side of her body. The arm was keeping her from falling off as it galloped forward. She looked up at the person who was holding her. It was Eren, the boy who had bitten his thumb earlier.

Said male looked down at her, surprise etching his features when he had saw that she was awake, but hardly. He looked towards his Captain and yelled out to him, careful not to jostle the strange girl too much.

"Corporal! She's awake!"

The raven-haired man turned back to his subordinate, raising a brow. "Is she now?" he eyed the blonde female that was blinking slowly, trying to focus her vision. He lifted a lip in disgust at her appearance. She was covered in dirt and dust, and a strange gold liquid had stained the side of her face, crusting into her hair almost like blood would. He decided that it would be best to question her when they arrived back at Headquarters.

"Oi, you never answered my question before." He spoke to her, awaiting a reply. But it never came.

Caryn could hear the male speaking to her and _wanted _to reply, but she was just _so tired. _Her eyes began to shut again, exhaustion finally consuming her and forcing her back into an unconscious state. It was definitely strange how she wasn't healing as fast as she was supposed to, and despite heeding her brother's warning, she was knocked unconscious the moment she had arrive on Earth.

The Corporal made a _'tch' _sound. "Great, did she fall under again?" he asked the titan-shifter. Eren shook the girl a bit, trying to get her to open her eyes, but she hadn't complied.

"She did, sir." Eren confirmed, wincing when his horse stumbled over a jagged surface and almost making him lose his grip on the girl. He readjusted his grip, careful not to make it uncomfortable for her.

"We'll just have to wait until she's stable enough to talk, then. Continue forward," the Corporal told his squad, spurring on his horse.

"Yes, sir!" the team replied in unison, following their Captain suit back to the safety of the walls.

**(o~o~o~)**

'_It's cold…wait, something's on my wrists…'_

For the second time that day (or so she'd thought), Caryn was awakening, that groggy feeling still taking over her body. She unconsciously sit up, blinking a couple times to clear her vision and pulled on the restraints that tied her to the wall, and the clinking of chains could be heard when she lifted a hand to her forehead. A bandage was wrapped around it, and her laurels were missing.

'_Why in goddesses name am I in chains?' _she growled in her mind, and an unknown voice startled her from her thoughts.

"You're finally awake," the voice said, and she recognized it to be male. When she could finally see properly, she looked around the area and began to study it. There were indeed chains around her wrists, restraining her, and she was on a small bed. What a relief, she was still wearing standard clothes of Elysium, but Exodus was missing from her belt and her pack was gone. Hissing lowly, she looked up through the bars of the cell at the human who held the voice.

He was a male who had blonde hair, darker than her own, and bushy eyebrows that had been the most capturing feature of his face besides his blue eyes. He looked to be around his thirties or forties in human years, and he was wearing a blank, but gentle expression. To the right of him was the same male that she had seen leading the group of humans earlier, his expression stoic. He was crossing his arms while leaning against the wall, his legs crossed. Both of their eyes held curiosity when they looked at her.

"My name is Commander Erwin Smith of the Survery Corps, and this man beside me is Captain Levi Ackerman. We are here to ask you a couple of questions. Can you tell us your name?"

The blonde man, Erwin he had called himself, spoke to Caryn in a gentle manner, as if not to frighten her. The deity was not frightened; no, she was a bit shocked is all. She had not expected the humans to chain her when she had arrived on Earth. Was this how they had greeted newcomers?

"Caryn…" she replied in a hushed voice. The aura emitting from these two men were very powerful, and she couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed, even if they were humans. Of course, she was the higher being, but their presence was a bit unnerving.

The commander nodded, a small smiling forming on his lips. "An intriguing name that is," he said, and Caryn could feel her cheeks heat up the slightest bit.

"Cut to the chase, Erwin," Levi interrupted the exchange between the two, giving the blonde commander an irritated look. "We're here to question her, not fluster the hell out of her."

"Of course." Erwin agreed, his face now devoid of all emotion. His gaze was firm, resolute. "First, I want to thank you for helping some of my men earlier. You had saved them when they were put in grave danger. Corporal Levi is also grateful."

'_He sure doesn't look like he is,' _Caryn drawled mentally before shaking her head.

"You don't have to thank me," she gave a polite smile. "I would do it again if I had to."

Erwin nodded approvingly. "I am happy to hear that. Which brings me to my next question," he looked deep into her hazel-blue orbs, making her feel a bit nervous. "Where did you come from? Are you human, are a different being entirely?"

Caryn slowly gulped, racking her brain for a suitable reply. She couldn't very well tell them about Elysium, could she? Although she knew that she had already been exposed, and her clothes and weapons had been confiscated. What could she do?

"May I ask what you have done with my sword and pack?" she boldly asked. Levi had narrowed his eyes at her, his gaze cold and unwavering.

"Don't answer a question with a question, brat." He scolded her, and Caryn frowned. Why was this human so rude with her? She had saved him, hadn't she? What had she done that put her in the wrong?

"Easy, Levi." Erwin reigned in the short ravenette, still not looking away from the girl that was an anomaly to them. "Rest assured, they are in a safe spot. We will return them to you in time. Now, please answer my question. The sooner you comply, the sooner you will be freed."

The blonde goddess bit her lip, contemplating what she could tell them. "I'm human, like you both." She lied, the words feeling disgusting on her tongue.

"Don't fucking lie, you shitty brat," Levi glared, seemingly irritated with the girl already. "Humans don't bleed different colors. Your clothes and weapons are not from within the walls. And your eyes? Common eye colors don't change from blue to gold. Stop wasting our time and spill it."

"That's enough, Levi." The commander's voice was low and threatening. "You are going to frighten her to the point where she really won't speak with us."

Caryn had never felt so guilty in her life. She was not one to tell lies, and even so, the reply she had received from the angered Corporal had saddened her. She clenched the bed sheets around her, her head bowed.

"I apologize, I had not meant to anger you." She said softly, and the two men quieted. "It would be best if I do not tell you who or what I am. If I do, both you and I will be in danger."

"_Tch,_" the short man let out an annoyed noise. "We are already in danger enough as it is. Adding one more travesty wouldn't really make a difference."

Caryn gritted her teeth. '_I have no choice, then.'___She thought, looking back up and giving the human males a look of resoluteness. '_Forgive me, mother. I have to disobey you, yet again.'_

"Very well, I will tell you everything."

An hour passed as she finished explaining everything from where she had come from, to her purpose for being on Earth. The occasional quirks of eyebrows and gaping mouths was seen as she continued her story, and the young blonde couldn't help but feel like a test subject with the way they had studied her when she spoke. Nerve-wracking wasn't the way to put it.

A moment of silence passed between the trio, and the air was tense. To break it, the constantly-frowning Corporal gave a light scoff. "You must be dumber than I thought if you think we're going to believe that you're some sort of goddess. What a laugh."

'_How rude! Can't he see that I'm telling the truth?!'_

Caryn's mouth dropped open in anger and embarrassment, her cheeks hot with both emotion. She glared at the stoic Captain. "I _could _show you that I am being utterly sincere; but to do that, you would have to remove these chains. They are restraining my power and capability to unleash it."

"That won't be necessary," the blonde commander interrupted, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Whether or not Levi has decided to do so, I have given it a bit of thought. This…_story _of yours is quite unbelievable," The corner of Levi's mouth twitched in a small smirk when he said this, but Erwin halted him with a hand. "But I can see it in your eyes; you are being truthful."

A _'whoosh' _of breath left Caryn's mouth and she smiled gratefully at the man. At least he believed her. She had meant no harm towards the humans; after all, she was here to help them, not betray them. Leaving them to fend for themselves was out of the question.

"Regardless, even if you are being truthful, there is something we cannot avoid in this matter."

"Hm?" Caryn questioned him, and she was met with another one of the commander's steely gazes. That look told her that he wasn't near done with the conversation.

"I am not sure if you are aware, but we have two other regiments that contain soldiers who fight for humanity's freedom. One is the Garrison, whose job is to guard the walls, and the other is the Military Police, whose job is to guard the king behind wall Sina and keep order. You may have seen the other two men who have been guarding you outside of your cell. They have the crest of a Pegasus adorning their backs," Erwin gestured towards the other guards, who had their backs turned away from her and were indeed adorning the horse-like symbols.

The blonde goddess nodded. "But there's something you are not telling me, isn't there?" she asked, and earned a nod in return.

"Tomorrow morning, you will be attending a trial under the court-of-law. Anyone who has associated with you before you arrived here is also required to be present."

Caryn felt as if a pillar had been dropped on her. "T-Trial? Whatever for?!" This was new to her. Never in her life had she thought she was going to be kept as a prisoner and questioned.

Erwin sighed. He hadn't wanted to go through the same thing twice, especially with what had happened with Eren Yeager, the Titan shifter teen. His own frustration laced his words. "You will be tried in court to see if you are either a threat to us or a useful part of our force. Commander-in-Chief Darius Zacklay, who is in charge of all three regiments, will be in charge of your hearing. He will be deciding whether you assist us in the Scout Regiment, or be handed over to the Military Police for inspection. He is decides if…"

The commander paused for the dramatic effect, further unnerving Caryn. Her eyes popped open at his next words. "He also decides whether you are to be executed or kept alive."

Her heart stopped. '_Executed or kept alive?' _

The thought was almost laughable, considering it was impossible for her to die on Earth. She had left that part out when she was revealing herself to the two human males. But what crime had she committed? She had _helped _them, for goddesses' sake! She couldn't very well aid them in their war against the Titans if she was in confinement!

"How absurd! I have done nothing wrong, so why would he decided to slaughter me?!" she snapped defensively at the pair, and Levi walked up to the cell bars, startling her a bit when he wrapped his hands around them, leaning forward and staring at her with mild fascination.

"Pipe down, brat," he drawled in a boring tone, gazing at her with determination. "We aren't going to allow that to happen. We have been in this situation before, and I am willing to bet that we sure as hell will be victorious in the end."

"Levi is right, Miss Caryn," Erwin agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "We will come to your defense if need be. I already have a suitable speech prepared for when Zacklay calls us for our testimony. You have nothing to worry about."

The bushy-eyebrowed blonde turned to his subordinate, speaking to him in a knowing tone. "And I trust that you want me to leave her in your care, Levi?"

"Of course. No one is more capable than I am. They'd be stuck with their heads up their asses while wondering what to do with her," said Corporal replied cockily, although his voice sounded anything but. He glared at the goddess, his dominant voice wrapping over her body like more chains. "Oi. Listen up, brat." He squeezed the iron bars harder.

"If, or should I say when, you are under my command," he tilted his head, eyes narrowing like a predator eyeing his prey. "You will follow my instructions as I see fit. If you are disobedient and choose to act out in any way, you will be punished accordingly. Should you ever decide to turn your back on humanity," his voice lowered dangerously.

"I will kill you where you stand."

Those words caused a shiver to go down Caryn's spine, and as much as she didn't want to believe it, she did. For some reason, this human male left the impression that he was incredibly strong, despite his small stature. He looked as if the slightest movement that came from her would be punishable by death. It made her nervous, staring into those cold grey eyes.

'_His strength reminds me of a god from Elysium. It's almost incredible.'_

Deciding to heed his words seriously, she nodded her head. She didn't want to take the chance to anger him further. He had a strange power that flowed over her, binding her and forcing her to comply on his every whim. The feeling annoyed her.

'_Unbelievable. He's a human, and I actually feel frightened of him.'_

Afraid.

She was afraid.

Never in her life had she thought that she would be afraid of someone other than a god or goddess. He was _human _and he had that effect on her!

'_Do I even dare call myself a goddess…?'_

Biting her lip, she stared back into the Corporal's steely orbs. "I will do as you say."

Nodding in approval, Levi backed away from the cell opening, standing next to Erwin as the commander stood from his seat, bowing his head a bit to Caryn. "Now that we have come to an understanding, please rest. I will have someone retrieve you in the morning. Don't worry," he smiled gently, emitting a comforting aura that reminded the goddess of Kadir, her older brother. "You will soon be in safe hands. Gentlemen," he nodded respectfully towards the MP Officers and they saluted as Erwin retreated, the raven-haired male following behind him.

Caryn decided to take up his offer and rest, leaning her head against the cold wall of the cell. She began to briefly close her eyes until she heard a familiar voice speak again.

"Oi, shitty brat." The Corporal called to her. She opened her eyes again, and although she could not see him, she could still feel his presence. Her heartbeat sped up nervously.

"Yes, sir?" she asked timidly, deciding to use formalities just to be safe. She thought she could hear the short man scoff, the sound bouncing off the walls. His next words were some of the same that she had heard earlier, and they were once again etched into her mind.

"Don't forget about what I said. That threat still stands."

And with that, he left once more, the clicking of his boots echoing off the walls as he disappeared down the dimly lit hallway. Groaning quietly, Caryn put her face in her hands.

'_What in Elysium have I gotten myself into?'_

**(o~o~o~)**

**This chapter was supposed to originally be longer, but I decided to update anyways and continue it off the next chapter. It would be better to finish Caryn's trial next time I write, so I can make a much larger chapter. I also hope Levi didn't seem OOC to anyone. I don't really have that hard of a time portraying characters often but if it had seemed that way, please don't worry. I will eventually get better in time.**

**Thanks, follow/favorite R&amp;R! **

**~M**


	4. Trial

**A/N: Soo I'm thinking about making another LevixOC story because well, ILOVEEEHIMMM. Don't worry. I won't neglect this story. The other one that's up, I might either delete or put on hiatus since it's not nearly as liked as this one ;( Or I may rewrite it…who knows.**

**Thankyoutoallmylovelieswhohavereviewedfavoritedandfollowed. I love you!**

**(o~o~o~)**

As promised, Caryn was collected in the morning and escorted to the courtroom by the Military Police men that were stationed to guard her. Even though she hadn't disliked them, she was beginning to change her mind when they removed her chains, and then cuffed her _again. _She muttered angrily under her breath. "This is most ridiculous."

She didn't think the guards would hear what she said, but was proven wrong when one of them smirked at her cruelly, obviously amused at how upset she was. She glared at him before looking ahead again, a permanent scowl left on her usually cheerful face.

'_I had never thought that some humans would act this way. Is this how I'm to be treated?'_

They stopped in front of large double doors and the guards opened it, ushering her inside a bit too roughly for her liking. She stumbled in, her eyes scanning the room. There were multiple humans on either side of her, and she bit her lip, bowing her head as she continued walking forward. When she stopped in front of the judgment stand, she saw a greying man who had a regal aura about him, and he looked important judging by his appearance.

'_At least he looks somewhat sane,' _she thought, a bit bitterly. Without warning, she was pushed to her knees with her hands behind her back, and a pole was put between the two cuffed arms so she couldn't escape. She gritted her teeth, feeling like a cornered animal.

"Is this really necessary?" she asked the guards behind her, raising an eyebrow at them. "I will comply no matter what, so why is there a need to restrain me, yet _again?_"

The guards just stared at her without answering, staring at her like she was a bug that needed to be squashed quickly. Caryn felt saddened at the way humans treated her at the moment. "Shut up, filth. You will speak only when spoken to. Now look to Darrius Zacklay otherwise you'll be seen as disrespectful."

The goddess felt as if she had been punched in the gut by those words. It was harsh of them to call her filth, but she felt even angrier, considering _she _was the higher being. It was unbelievable how superior they acted towards her. Deciding to ignore the guards that she had now decided to call scum in her mind, she regrettably turned towards the front, eyeing the aged man.

The room had quieted down rather quickly, and the regal man had looked down at her, a relaxed, but curious expression on his face. He shuffled papers in front of him, clearing his throat. "Now that everyone has been situated, we will begin."

Caryn froze under his unmasking gaze. She felt nervous; she had never been convicted before, so this was new to her. It wasn't like she had ever committed a crime before. After all, she hadn't of done anything wrong here. She admitted she had swept a pitcher of ambrosia water from her mother's private cabinet before in the kitchens, but that was hardly as serious as this was.

"You are Caryn of Elysium, yes? As you have previously told us, you do not have a last name, but are given the surname of the place you were born."

The hazel-blue eyed girl nodded, confirming his question. Darrius had closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, searching hers to find a lie in them. But he hadn't.

"I see. Then if what we have heard is true, then our laws and trial runs do not apply to you. Due to this, I will be the one to determine your fate."

Caryn knew what that meant.

He would be the one to decide if she was to be executed or not.

Clenching her fists behind her, she rubbed them into the cuffs so the pain would distract her from her nervousness. She felt grimy and dirty; she was still in the clothes that she had worn since she arrived, and she wanted to bathe.

Her thinking train was snapped when Darrius spoke to her again, his voice strong. "Of course, my decision will be solely based on if you are a threat to humanity, or an ally. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand." The blonde had sounded just as strong, but inside she was feeling anything but. He gave a nod of approval, looking down at the papers in front of him again.

"Excellent. Recently, your sudden appearance has caused quite an interruption. We understand that you have said you are a young deity, sent to aid humanity in their victory against the Titans, and that a goddess such as yourself is no doubt capable of doing so. Is this true, and by answering, do you swear to be ultimately honest?"

Caryn wanted to pout at the question. Was it just her, or did every single human she came across think that she was lying in some way? "Yes, sir." She promised. "It is just like you have said. I was sent by my superiors to assist you in your wars."

On the right side of the room, a shout could be heard followed by insults.

"Imposter! You are no goddess! How can you prove your worth?!"

A man with a harsh expression and a necklace containing three symbols of woman glared at her, gritting his teeth. Even the thought of her speaking made him angry. Caryn was puzzled, but Darrius lifted up a hand to halt the furious man.

"Please quiet down, Pastor Nick," he said calmly to the man, his gaze warning him not to speak further. The priest complied, holding his tongue indignantly. "She has already sworn to tell the truth and will not stop doing so. With that being said, we shall hear the Military Police's testimony first."

A scruffy man with dark hair and eyes stood, clearing his throat in preparation to speak. "Very well, sir." He picked up papers and skimmed over them, his expression unchanging before looking up at Darrius with finality.

"Nile Dok, commander of the MP division now speaking. We believe that this anomaly should not be trusted, and eliminated immediately. It is too great of a risk to allow her to walk among humanity and fight our battles. Though Eren Yeager has shown signs of improvement, we were already reluctant enough to hand him over to the Scout Regiment. His power is still unknown and unreliable.

"In support of this argument, this 'goddess' could very well be a spy sent from a location we have not yet discovered with a mission to slay mankind, just as the Titans have continued to do so. For all we know, she could have connections to them and is a titan-shifter herself."

Caryn could not believe what she was hearing. This human was truly idiotic. If she had wanted to destroy humanity, she would have already done so. She would have killed Levi's squad that day instead of saving them. She could have even gotten out of the cuffs that were restraining her if she put enough strength into it. She wanted to curse a thousand words, but decided against it.

Nile's expression hardened and he looked at her with untrustworthy eyes. "Therefore, she should be disposed of immediately. The severity of the situation is too drastic."

"I agree, sir Zacklay!" Pastor Nick piped in again, his voice grating on Caryn's nerves. "This woman is a demon! A true, blood-born devil sent to exhaust our forces even further!"

"Peace, Pastor." Darrius patted his hand on his desk a couple of times, trying to get both men to settle down. "You are causing a fuss. Now then, we will hear from the Survey Corps." He gave the go ahead to the opposite side of the room. Caryn turned her head, her eyes widening in realization. She could see many familiar faces within the crowd there, including Erwin's and Levi's. Even Eren was there, his green-eyes boring into her form worriedly. It was no doubt that he had been through something similar before and could feel the anxiety she was feeling.

Erwin stood, bowing his head respectfully to Darrius Zacklay. "Yes, sir. I am Erwin Smith, head of the Scouting division now speaking. We believe that Caryn could very well be a great asset in humanity's fight towards victory and wish to utilize her skills further."

A long pause went throughout the courtroom, and the young goddess had went to facepalm, only to find herself not being able to because of the damn cuffs. She sighed, shaking her head a bit. '_That was an excruciatingly short testimony.'_

Darrius lifted a brow at the commander, expecting more from him. "That's it?"

"Yes."

"And how would you go about supporting this argument?" the greying man asked, and Erwin glanced at the blonde kneeling before them.

"Caryn has shown great skill during battle that would rival even Humanity's Strongest Soldier's. At the time, she was saving his squad and a fellow squad leader when they had a sudden malfunction in their gear. There were at least seven Titans surrounding the group when she had appeared and slayed them all in seconds. Each soldier you see here is a witness to that."

"I see…" Darrius scratched his chin in thought. "That doesn't assure us that she isn't unstable, though. How do we know it would be safe to use her?"

Erwin did not comment back, and Caryn had started to feel doubtful that they were going to win her on their side. She met eyes with the commander, but he had said nothing to her or to Darrius. The goddess gritted her teeth.

'_I won't back down without a fight.'_

"Excuse me," she interrupted meekly. Darrius's gaze landed on her, and she fidgeted under the scrutiny of it. Despite the nervousness she felt, she held her head high. She was a blood-born goddess; she had more dangerous things to fear other than humans. "May I have the permission to speak, Mr. Zacklay?"

He nodded his head, lacing his fingers in front of him. "Permission granted."

"Thank you." She smiled before continuing, content on fighting for herself. "If I may be so bold to ask this, what is the crime I have committed?"

Silence, and for the first time during the trial, Darrius looked a bit puzzled at her question. "Pardon?" he asked her.

"My crime?" she asked again, raising an eyebrow. "If I'm to be executed or examined, I wish to know what it is that I have done to wrong you."

Again, no one had answered. '_I thought so, they have no backup to their statements whatsoever.' _

Before the Commander-in-Chief could speak, she took his ability away by speaking over him. "I have told you my story from top to bottom, and I was truthful throughout the whole ordeal. My goal is to aid humanity and assist them, and I have never even thought, much less planned to betray them. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, as I have not told you yet; but we Elysians are the creators of humankind; we strive to protect humanity. If I will be allowed to, I will help you defeat the Titans. It's what I'm here for, after all." She gave a close-eyed smile.

Just as she thought she had won them over with her comment, the Pastor, his mind made up about the woman, spoke out again. His shrill voice carried over the room.

"That's enough, you vile creature! We will not be swayed over our decision to get rid of you! You are a demon, sent from the deepest depths of hell to cause destruction even further towards humans! You are an insolent, demonic being!"

Caryn glared at the old male, wishing her gaze would just ignite him on fire already. It was ridiculous, this man had separate beliefs and yet there was a goddess standing right in front of him. Pitiful.

"I agree, sir." Nile just had to add his two cents in. "She is too dangerous to be considered an ally. We should dispose of her immediately."

"Do you all see?! Even the commander of the Military Police agrees! This alien is nothing but a menace! Purge her! Kill her!"

'_I've had enough!'_

"Please, stop this! I am not the type of being that you think I am!" she finally cried, interrupting them with a pleading voice. "I swear to you that I mean well! How could you judge someone before getting to know them properly?! Are you humans so cruel as to push someone away who only wants to help you?!"

"Shut your mouth, you filthy imbecile!" Pastor Nick screeched, pointing an accusing finger at her. "You are probably acting with the Titans to breech our walls! You may even be working with the Colossal and Armored Titans for all we have knowledge of!"

"No!" she wailed, shaking her head in truthful denial. "That's not true! That's not true at all!"

Counterpartying her distress, the walls began to shake, and each person in the room began to panic, the unknown force shaking them about in their seats. The goddess continued her rant towards the pastor, not at all swayed to stop.

"Please!" She begged. "I only wish to help you! Please believe m—"

_**BAM!**_

A miserable, pained yell left her mouth before she continued as a boot came in contact with her cheek and nose, making her bite her lip and start to bleed from her nose and mouth. Her head whipped to the side violently.

Someone had kicked her, _hard. _The force of the impact was stronger than she could imagine, she didn't even think that humans were that strong.

She didn't have time to recover before she was kicked over and over again, emitting cries of distraught and pain from her. She felt liquid trailing down her head, no doubt the wound reopening there.

'_Why hasn't that healed yet? It usually heals within seconds!'_

The crowd gasped, and Darrius was dumbfounded when the girl began to bleed not red, but _gold _blood. He had expected something like this to occur. There wasn't any other way to prove that she really was a goddess, other than the strange earthquake she had just caused. '_At least we know for sure now,_' the afterthought crossed his mind.

Lance Corporal Levi, known for his strict ways and sharp tongue, was there once again, beating the life out of yet another trial victim. He showed no mercy as his continued with his onslaught, punishing her for speaking out of term against the commander and pastor. Nile was once again witnessing the power the short man held over his subordinates, dominating the blonde girl just like he had with Eren at his own trial.

"L-Levi, she's had enough." He stuttered nervously, afraid to anger the Corporal even further. Although, he was not angry. When the girl was leaned over, nearly losing consciousness (she seemed to have been doing that a lot lately), he finally stopped his torment, glancing towards the opposite crowd sternly but stoically.

He took Caryn by her chin, jutting it up to show them his handiwork. Everyone than cringed at the sight of the goddess that was beaten to a pulp right in front of their eyes. "You people are amusing. Have you forgotten who I am already?" he taunted. "Tch. How troublesome. And here I thought I wouldn't have to intervene this time, but it looks like I had to."

Darrius lifted up a hand to halt Humanity's Strongest in his tracks. "They are right, Levi. Please show some restraint, she is much more fragile than Eren Yeager was at his trial."

"Are you saying you want me to give her special treatment, then?" he asked coldly, getting a puzzled expression from the judge of the trial. "If she is going to be under my command, then I am going to need to tame her. She should not be allowed to disobey a superior or act out against an order." He let her face drop from his hand, and her whole form crumpled at an odd angle. "It is just like I have said before; I am the only one that is capable of killing her if need be."

The air was thick with tension, and the whole room went silent. Levi knew that he had made his point clear, and had no doubt that they had won the case, yet again. To confirm his thoughts, Darrius let out a sigh, making his decision.

"Very well, Levi. She will be left in your care. But," he paused before continuing. "Are you sure you can handle both her and the titan-shifter at the same time?"

"Do you doubt my abilities?" the ravenette retorted, and the Commander-in-Chief let out an airy laugh.

"No, I do not." Raising himself out of his seat, he gave a declaration. "Caryn of Elysium will go with the Scout Regiment. She will be reported on monthly, and we are to be noted of her progress. If she isn't who she says she is, and she fails to aid us, she will be handed over to the Military Police for further testing." He began walking towards the exit, the men on either side of him following suit. "You all may be dismissed."

And with those last words, he disappeared behind the door.

Erwin applauded Levi in his mind for acting when he did. They had won yet another case with him proving his skill towards the nobles. Although he was a bit shocked that he would actually hit a woman as kind as the goddess, he knew that Levi did not regret it one bit.

'_Yet another job well done,' _he though, impressed by his subordinates display. He watched as the nearly unconscious Caryn was removed from her position on the floor, getting dragged out by the same guards and exiting the courtroom.

Levi watched silently as the blonde goddess was escorted out, looking half-dead from his brutal beating. It had quickly taken a toll on her, and he began to feel a small pang of guilt eat away at him. He had been too rough with her, but it was for the best.

'_Another brat that is going to hate me. Bloody fantastic.'_

**(o~o~o~)**

**This chapter was meant to be out earlier, but I kinda delayed it.**

**I will be having a beta reader after this! Yay! Thank you for volunteering!**

**R&amp;R, favorite and follow. Until next time.**

**~M**


	5. Under His Command

**A/N: Constructive criticism is always appreciated (:**

**REMINDER: I still need a few beta readers. If ANYONE is willing, please let me know! **

**I'd also like to add, that if you guys are confused about anything in the story, let me know as well. I'll be willing to thoroughly explain anything you have to ask. From one comment, my story is not inconsistent. It is anything but. I may have left some things out because I reckon that almost everyone has read the manga or watched the anime, or has at least started it. There is some slight AU. Anything else that is currently missing will be added later. I promise.**

**Thanks for following the story so far!**

**(o~o~o~)**

Everything hurt.

Her head. Her chest. Her face. Her hands. Her arms. Her legs.

Everything.

Caryn flinched when yet another stitch was sown into her forehead, the curtesy of it reopening being, of course, Levi's. It was weird for her to feel so much pain, especially when it had never really been inflicted upon her. Sure, she got a few bumps and bruises from sparring, but being beaten was entirely different.

'_Why does he despise me so much?'_

She wasn't angry at him for beating her, no. She was angry that he had treated her with so much disrespect. Even when she was one-hundred percent polite, he was excruciatingly cold and blunt.

"I'm almost finished." Hanji Zoe, whose name she had learned when getting lead to a separate room from the courthouse, pulled some tweezers away from the goddess's forehead and covered the stitched-up wound in gauze. "Jeez, Levi didn't need to be so rough. A girl shouldn't look so beaten up!" the women whined, finishing with tape. She smiled at her work.

Hanji then gave a toothy grin, her eyes sparkling. "Anyways, can I get a sample of your blood?!"

Caryn's eyes widened at the squad leader's audacious display. She noticed that the woman was quite the character, and from what she heard on the battlefield, she had to guess she was some sort of scientist who liked to study things. Possibly Titans, and maybe more?

"U-Uhm…" she stuttered a reply, and Hanji took her hands into her own.

"Oh, there's so much things we have to do! We have to test your ability to heal, your battle strategy, the weapons you use, I should even take a bit of your hair! The color is magnificent!"

"M-Miss Zoe…"

"Just Hanji is fine."

"Okay then, Hanji." She fixed. "Speaking of weapons, do you know where they have put my sword?"

Hanji bit her lip in thought, her eyes moving elsewhere. "I think they put it in one of the storage areas here. But don't worry, you'll get it back soon. Oh!" she exclaimed. "Do you think I could study that, too? Or could you maybe tell me what it is made out of?!"

The scientist side of the woman was never-ending, and Caryn felt overwhelmed. She didn't know how to reply to so many intense questions. Suddenly, saving her from doing so, the door opened. An eruption of power came from the being standing in the doorway, and Caryn cringed in submission and dread.

"Stop talking, shitty-glasses. You're scaring the girl."

Caryn didn't look back at the short-tempered male; she already knew who he was when he entered the room. His aura was overpowering and stagnate, showing that he meant business and wasn't taken lightly.

"Don't be so cruel, shorty! I was asking important questions." The brunette whined, waving her hands in dismay. Shuffling could be heard as Levi began to walk towards the pair, halting behind the chair that Caryn was sitting in. His presence loomed over the blonde like sun rays on pavement.

"No one wants to hear you ramble on about your experiments, so save it." He said harshly, looking down at the deity with an emotionless gaze. "Oi, brat."

Caryn didn't want to move her head to look at him, but she decided that it would be best not to ignore him. His words were cold, but surprisingly sounded gentle as he called to her. Tilting her head up, she looked into his slate-grey orbs. His eyes showed the emotion that his face clearly did not; guilt.

"Do you hate me?" he suddenly asked, and Caryn blinked confusedly. She was not expecting such a question to come from the ever-stoic Corporal. She thought she would get lectured on how bad it was to speak out against superiors, or something related to the sort.

"Of course I don't. Do I have a reason to?"

She didn't miss the sudden flash of puzzlement on his features before they disappeared, resuming their monotonous state.

"Considering I just ruthlessly beat the shit out of you in front of at least a hundred people, yes," he declared, crossing his arms over his chest. "….you do."

Caryn didn't hate him. Not one bit. As furious as she was for him punishing her in front of others and embarrassing her, and treating her poorly, she had nothing against the raven-haired man at all. Although, he did need to change his personality.

"I don't necessarily know if this disappoints you, but I don't. Although, I do have something to ask," she tilted her head slightly in question, and Levi lifted a brow.

"Was it necessary for you to strike me repeatedly?"

Levi didn't say anything for a few seconds, then replied. "I needed to show Zacklay that I have full control over you. Had I not, you would have been a damn test subject by now."

Ah. So that had been his intention. It was necessary for him to lash out at her so that they could win the case. He had said before that he was the only one capable of defeating her if she betrayed humankind. Not that she ever would. Knowing now his aspirations, she felt all of the negativity melt away. This human was actually fairly smart.

"I don't agree with your methods; however, I understand what you were trying to do. So I forgive you."

Levi nodded amicably at her, somewhat pleased with her reply. He noted that she was rather polite and easy to talk to. It was a bit of a relief that she wasn't a stubborn mule or a screw-up like Eren. If she was, he had yet to find out for himself.

"So…" Hanji drawled, placing her elbows on her knees and her face in the palms of her hands. She was the perfect picture of boredom. "Now that you guys have made up…"

Her eyes sparked mischievously, and she drooled a bit on the corner of her mouth. "Can I do those tests on you or what?!"

Caryn looked at the woman and sweat-dropped. Did she only care about using people as test subjects?

"Enough, shitty four-eyes," Levi growled, leaning over Caryn's head to grab Hanji's collar. '_Does he have any qualms about personal space?'_ "She under my command, I won't let you dissect her like some frog."

"Well, that makes me feel so much better," the goddess muttered sarcastically, and Levi glared down at her. His stomach was rubbing the back of her head, and it made her blush a little in embarrassment at how close they were.

"Did you say something, brat?"

Caryn wanted to roll her eyes at his petulance. She was at least a couple hundred years older than him, yet he insisted on calling her brat instead of using her name. It could have been because she was a bit shorter than him, humans tended to tease people that were shorter than them.

"Not at all," she replied, giving a sickly sweet smile. Levi made a _'tch' _sound, letting go of Hanji's collar and taking a seat opposite of them. He crossed one leg over the other, throwing his arm over the top of the chair. In a way, the way he sat was a bit feminine, but with an air of confidence around him, he made it seem masculine. Caryn had to admit, he was devilishly handsome. Despite the constant scowl that he wore, the tone of his skin contrasted with his hair, and the grey of his eyes stood out even when he narrowed them. If he hadn't looked so harsh all of the time, he would be even more attractive than he already was.

Breaking her out of her trance-like state, the door opened once again, and Erwin entered the room along with Levi's squad and Eren. The green-eyed teen gave her a look of pure guilt upon seeing her face, and he almost looked ashamed. Levi's squad had equal looks, although their interest and confusion was piqued.

Erwin came to stand in front of Caryn, kneeling down on one knee in front of her. Even when he did that, his head towered above hers. "I apologize for the treatment you have received, but I want you to know that we are truly grateful for your assistance. We needed a powerful ally such as yourself."

Caryn didn't know if she was supposed to feel flattered or embarrassed, for the commander seemed to comment a lot on her skill lately. He was actually very kind, despite his stoic expression and rigorous conversations.

"I have already forgiven you for your actions, so there is no need to apologize. You don't need to thank me, either. I promised to be honest with you all and have wanted nothing more than to help you."

The commander looked pleased at her reply, and gave a relieved smile. It was contagious, and the goddess couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm glad to know that we can trust you. We prefer not to waste time, so you will begin your training and are being placed under Levi's squad immediately. There is much that you have to learn about defeating Titans and such." He held out a welcoming hand, and the blonde grabbed it firmly, pumping once in a handshake.

"I assume that this 'training' involves the machinery I witnessed the Corporal and his squad using before, yes?"

"You are correct."

"Since that is the case, will I be permitted to use my own weaponry?"

Erwin blinked, rethinking back to the beautiful sword that they had taken from me. "You are talking about the strange sword you were carrying on your person?"

Caryn nodded. The blonde man clasped his hands together and placed them under his chin, his gaze not leaving hers. He looked at is he was contemplating if it was a good idea or not.

"If I allow you to use this weapon of yours," he said. "Will you show us the skill you possess during training?"

Caryn blinked owlishly, tilting her head to the side. She expected him to want to know all about her skills, so why had he asked? "Of course. As long as I only show the Scout Regiment. I can't imagine how furious my mother is at the moment."

Erwin looked at her a bit confusedly. "Your mother?"

Caryn nodded. "Yes. I had promised her that I would not show my true identity to you and limit my powers, but I panicked when I had seen your men being attacked. It was either throw my secret out of the window or let the squad perish, and I decided to choose the latter, being the better decision."

"I see," Erwin rubbed his chin in thought. The blonde deity could feel all of the piercing gazes on her back, watching her, listening to her every word. Of course she had nothing to hide now, but it was still unnerving to be found out so soon. "You don't have to worry. I assure you that no one will witness your training but us."

"Thank you."

The deity smiled at the commander, grateful that he was so understanding of her needs. She thought that, just maybe, staying here on Earth with them wouldn't be as bad as she originally thought. Due to her wide grin, her split lip (courtesy of Levi) began to bleed again, the golden blood dripping slightly down her chin. Caryn frowned, licking it ever so slightly. Even though a deity's blood was a different color than a humans, they had the same sharp, metallic taste that was utterly disgusting.

"And yet, these smaller wounds won't close up either." She muttered to herself quietly, but Erwin's strained ears could hear it.

"Do you mean to say that you heal faster than a human does?" he questioned, genuinely interested. The goddess huffed, not at him but at her unsealing lip.

"Indeed, we do heal twice as fast as you do. But it's strange, I'm healing at a much slower rate than I usually do, and that worries me. Hanji even had to stitch up my forehead to get it to close up." She jutted out her lip a little, the blood flow finally clotting. "I don't know what the reason is as to why it is doing that, but if I had to make an assumption, it would be because I am on Earth, and not in Elysium."

"So in other words, you are stating that you are just as vulnerable to injury and death as we are." Levi spoke, his voice sounding matter-of-factly. In truth, the Lance Corporal had still felt a bit wary around the new addition to his team, and knowing that she was nearly human now was a bit of a relief.

"Regrettably, yes." Caryn drawled, tapping her nails together in a jittery feeling. "I'll just have to be extremely careful not to injure myself while battling. My mother had said that us gods cannot die here, for it is not our true resting place. But I am starting to think otherwise if the time comes."

"You better expect to get scratches here and there, and even worse when you're fighting those ugly bastards out there," the ravenette glared at the woman who thought too highly of herself. "Hardly anyone comes out unscathed."

"Of course," she replied respectfully. What kind of soldier would she become if she didn't get a few bumps and bruises? "I just merely thought to be careful. That's all."

"Tch. I guess I have no other damn choice than to take your word for it." The Corporal looked away stubbornly, not allowed to get into it with some shitty-brat. Pushing aside the confusion, Caryn turned back to the blonde-haired commander.

"So, when you say I will start training immediately," she began, eyes wide and questioning. "Just how immediate is this?"

Erwin looked a bit surprised at her question. Had she wanted to start sooner than he thought? "We don't have much time to spare, so preferably tomorrow."

"O-Oh…I suppose that's acceptable." She stuttered nervously. She thought she would have at least a day to prepare for their evaluation, but unfortunately, she was wrong. Caryn had hoped they wouldn't be disappointed in her skills, but remembered when they had fought for her in the case, and her confidence raised a bit.

"I apologize that we cannot give you more time, but it had to be soon." Erwin smiled genuinely at the goddess, a rare sight to see from the commander of the Survey Corps. His smile showed that he was grateful for her assistance and proud of her bravery.

"Now, Caryn of Elysium." He patted her soundly on the shoulder, the gesture kind but firm. "Welcome to the Scouting Legion."

**(o~o~o~)**

_**CLANK**_

"Goddesses, how do you work this contraption?!" Caryn shrieked in frustration, trying to shoot the wires out of the strange metal device for the umpteenth time since she woke this morning.

Of course, this 'contraption' she was referring to was, you guessed it, the 3D-manouvering gear.

Yesterday, they had left around sunset to their new location, or at least, new for Caryn. She had arrived at the Survey Corps Headquarters, which was situated at a fairly large castle. It wasn't as big as the palace she had recently lived in, but it was better than nothing. She would have to get use to the atmosphere.

And as promised, the commander had given her Exodus and her travel pack back. She was instantly relieved upon seeing the items, thanking him multiple times even though he had said it wasn't necessary. But it didn't hurt to be polite, he was her superior after all. And although she didn't know much about etiquette on Earth, she assumed they would have the same formal standards just as Elysium did.

At first light, Petra Ral, her new roommate and comrade, woke her to start her training early so that she could get a head start before Levi and Erwin could evaluate her. Of course, this brought along a strung of curses and threats, but the ginger-haired woman was not at all fazed and proceeded to drag her out of bed. It wasn't her fault that Caryn wasn't a morning person.

And now, she was stuck wearing tight, uncomfortable clothing, and strapped to her was an albeit useless, heavy machine. Or so she had thought. She let out a whoop of success when she had finally managed to shoot a grapple at a nearby tree, impaling it and making her shoot forward.

Which only made her collide with said tree.

"Ugh!" she yelped, her body aching with pain. She had said that she would avoid injury, however; it wasn't going very well for her at the moment.

"Curse this useless piece of metal!" she snarled, lashing out in anger at the tree with a gust of wind. It shook the sycamore and leaves began to fall from it, but it was otherwise unharmed from the abuse.

Petra landed beside the blonde-haired goddess, giving her an apologetic look. The member of the Special Operations squad new first-hand just how difficult using the 3DMG was and felt a little bad for pushing the matter onto the deity so early in the morning. However, it was necessary for her to learn how to use it.

"Don't get discouraged, Caryn. It's a start, right? It takes years for cadets to get the hang of it, and Eren was proof of that."

Petra was right; Eren was a lot more skilled at using the gear now than he was in his cadet years, and still had some faults here and there. At least she shot a grapple on her first couple of tries.

"Just how in the world am I going to learn how to use this _today? _And not only that…" Caryn grumbled, trying to loosen the jacket with the Scouts Logo on the back. "This uniform is highly uncomfortable. Must it be so intensely tight?"

Petra let out a humored giggle, flashing her a smile. "You tend to get use to the feel of the fabric and the 3DMG straps. We still need to make you a custom-made uniform, so just bear with it today."

The honey-eyed woman had given Caryn an extra one of her uniforms that was a little too big for her, but it had been slightly small on the larger girl. She wasn't nearly as tall and proportioned as other girls, but she was still bigger than Petra was. Caryn was actually proud of her size; she was curvy and fit because of constant sparring, and left little to imagine (which was sometimes a negative) but it was her body and she had to accept it.

"Do I really need to use all of this stuff? I mean, I just received all of my weaponry, and I can use my powers to my advantage. I can easily keep up without having to wear this…3DMG, as you called it before."

"Of course!" Petra exclaimed, clapping her hands together and making the deity blink overwhelmingly. "If you're going to be one of us, you have to dress and act like one of us. You would stick out like a sore thumb if we let you wear what you wanted. As for the maneuvering gear…" she tilted her head to the side, a frown marring her forehead. "I'm not sure about how Captain wants you to manage. You'll have to get him to agree if you don't want to use it."

"Hey!"

Both woman looked up higher into the trees, and three forms came swishing out, the lines of their gear visible as the men landed on the ground, waving and chatting in greeting.

"How long have you guys been out here for? It's still pretty early, you know." the man with tied-back blonde-hair, Eld his name was, asked the duo. Behind him were Oluo and Gunther, and all of them were members of Squad Levi. They were the humans Caryn had saved.

The night before, they had introduced themselves to Caryn, as she was the one who would be joining their squad. It wasn't anything new to them, especially since Eren had just also recently joined not too long ago. They had been surprisingly accepting and the goddess had taken an instant liking to them all.

"It's been about an hour-and-a-half since I woke Caryn up. We wanted to get up early to train before Captain came to see us." She answered, sheathing her blades into the container of the 3DMG.

"So is blondie any good, Petra?" Oluo asked haughtily, leaning up against the tree that was closest to Caryn. The goddess was puzzled; she had never been called a nickname that referred to her hair color.

"Don't be an ass, Oluo." Petra replied seething, giving the older male a glare. He had asked that question to rile the goddess up, but said woman was too innocent to understand what he was implying.

"I'm just saying! Every greenie has ups and downs on their first day, so don't expect to be perfect!" he snapped at the blonde-haired deity, who was too busy fiddling with the straps over her chest. He huffed when he realized he was being ignored.

"Well, since we're out here now," Gunther interrupted, unsheathing his blades once again. "Why don't we continue where you left off? Captain Levi will undoubtedly be here soon with Commander Erwin."

"Good idea," Petra agreed and turned to her new teammate. "Let's try one more time. Remember, balance is key. You want to use your hips and arms mostly, not your legs and torso. You'll easily fall or hit a tree if you do that. Aiming correctly and precisely is important as well."

When saying this, she shot her grapples into a nearby tree, swinging herself with impressive momentum up to the branch. She landed gracefully, as if she was born to do something such as this. "When you want to pick up speed or quickly maneuver, you want to use the gas. Remember, your tanks can run out quicker than you think, so always keep track of how much is left. But for now, just focus on learning how to shoot your grapples."

While the others left into the trees once again, Caryn stood listening word for word on what Petra was saying. Even though she didn't want to use the gear, she decided it would be useful to at least learn how to use it, just in case. Nodding to the younger girl, she aimed her hooks once again, successfully lodging herself into the tree. Just like Petra had, she swung herself up using her hips, shooting the least bit of gas and propelling herself onto one of the branches. She jerked slightly before landing on the wood surface.

"Great job!" Petra praised happily, and Caryn felt herself grinning wildly. She was definitely proud of herself. After doing this exercise for nearly two hours, she had finally managed to land safely on a tree branch without falling on her behind or crashing into a tree.

"Thank Elysium, I finally did it!" Caryn cheered, pumping a fist in the air. The duo celebrated, unaware of the approaching figures that were coming closer to them. During her excited dance, the branch shook next to her, alerting her that someone had just joined them.

"What are you lot so happy about?"

Caryn gasped in surprise, accidently jumping a little too much and causing her foot to slip. That simple action was a big mistake.

"Oi! Do you have a death wish or something?!"

Before she could plummet to her "death", an arm winded itself around her waist, taking her with the form that had jumped to the ground, landing safely below the trees. She looked to her sudden savior. Levi's cold grey eyes stared back at her, his steely glare not amused.

She took in the Corporal's handsome features, and unbeknownst to herself, her cheeks began to heat up the slightest bit.

'_Unbelievable! A human has flustered me?!'_

Blushing wildly, Caryn pulled out of Humanity's Strongest Soldier's grasp, looking anywhere but him. She was embarrassed when she had made a complete fool out of herself, and even more so when he had suddenly grabbed her.

"T-Thank you, Captain. You startled me so I only had minimal time to react." She thanked him, giving a shaky smile. The ravenette sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Shouldn't you have advanced reflexes since you're a goddess or something?" he snapped irritably at her, and Caryn flinched away. His aura was angry and overpowering, and it almost put her in her place if not for her strong will. She was once again reminded that a _human_ had this power over her.

"I'm afraid it comes with age. I'm young, and a minor goddess at that." She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her blonde head. It was slightly more difficult since she was wearing it in a ponytail today.

"Whatever. Just don't do something stupid like that again, it's troublesome. I'm not always going to be here to correct your mistakes," he ordered, and just like Petra taught her, she saluted to her new Captain.

"Yes, sir!" she replied enthusiastically, and Levi rolled his eyes at her almost childish demeanor.

"Glad to see that we have some sort of understanding."

Petra, and the other man that was revealed to be Erwin, landed on the ground next to him. Petra ran up to the goddess, taking her hands in the palms of her own.

"Are you alright?! You almost fell! If Captain hadn't been there I don't know what I would have done!" Petra rambled, checking her for injuries like a mother hen would. Caryn giggled. She was definitely the sweet mother type.

"I'm fine, Petra. A fall such as that wouldn't have been fatal."

"But I thought you're prone to death now?" Petra asked innocently, and Caryn frowned in remembrance.

"Oh, right. I had almost forgotten that." She albeit grumbled, and the younger woman let go of her hands. Erwin stood casually in front of her, and she gave him a firm salute as well.

"At ease," he nodded to her gesture, and Caryn's hands dropped back down to her sides. "Good morning, cadet. I see that you two were out earlier than we expected you to be."

"Yes, commander." She agreed. "Petra was just teaching me how to use the 3D maneuvering gear."

He lifted a quizzical brow. "I see. And how is that coming along?"

"Fairly well, sir. She learned how to branch herself on the first couple of tries," Petra answered for the blonde, giving her a proud smile. Erwin nodded approvingly, folding his hands behind his back and gazing at Caryn in expectation.

"That's good to hear. Now, to officially start your training." He turned his back, and the clinking of gears could be heard as he prepared for liftoff into the trees. "Please follow me. We will need to find a suitable are for us to test you in." and with that, he took off, zipping by the tall branches.

Petra followed suit, leaving her and Levi behind as her feet lifted off the ground and disappearing out of sight. Levi was about to do the same, but then he saw the goddess hesitating, looking up into the trees where the duo had disappeared. She had a troubled expression on her doe-like features that irked him some.

"Well? Are you coming?" he asked impatiently, and Caryn gave him an incredulous look.

"U-Uhm…" she stuttered pathetically, and the Corporal gave her a '_what-are-you-waiting-for'_

Look. "I don't know if I can do it again…when I used the gear it was a lucky shot when I finally did it correctly…" the unsureness she felt towards trying again was palpable, and she didn't want to fail. Even more so in front of her Captain.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Levi growled out, and guilt began to creep into her stomach as she looked down to her shuffling feet, avoiding his gaze. She didn't want to seem so weak to him because it was unlike her, but in a new world, you learn some things that are difficult to learn at first.

Suddenly, the familiar feeling of an arm came back around her waist, wrapping tightly around her and making her jump in mild surprise and shock. Without giving her a chance to complain about how close he was, he used his 3DMG to effortlessly lift the both of them into the air, their surroundings nothing but green and brown blurs.

"Am I going to have to babysit you every five minutes? I'd rather not, considering I have my own duties to fulfill." He said harshly, looking away slightly to glare at her. Even if he wasn't paying attention, he still weaved through the trees with impressive speed and skill.

Caryn didn't answer. She hid as much of her face as she could behind her snow-blonde bangs so her blush wasn't apparent. She would die of embarrassment if he knew that he had managed to fluster her. Her heart was beating a mile a minute while being so closely pressed to his person.

He was a small-statured man, but she could feel every curve and flex of the muscles beneath his uniform. His heartbeat was slow and calm; not picking up rate since he was basically in his element. She almost had wanted to trail her hand down his abs. If she reached just a little bit farther—

'_Just what the hell am I thinking?!' _she chided herself mentally, blushing even more at the inappropriate thoughts.

"Are you even listening to me, shitty-brat?" his voice penetrated her thoughts again, making her come back to her senses and realizing that they were still airborne. Caryn wished that this would be over; that Levi would let go of her so that she didn't think of him anymore.

"I-I apologize, Captain." She stuttered nervously, paying attention to the blurred images instead of him. She would rather him not see her flustered expression, for his attitude was already smug enough. "I didn't want to trouble you even further. I wouldn't have been able to keep up with you and this forest is…for lack of the better word, _gigantic._ I would soon be lost."

Well, not technically. She could always find her way back with Rogue Sight, but it took a lot of energy to use and wouldn't have been worth it. Besides, using it with maneuvering gear would be a first and probably last for her.

"You've already troubled me enough with this carrying bullshit. I don't think I've ever had to help a damn cadet this much. Just don't get use to this, understood?" he ordered her, and the goddess had finally managed to control her blush, giving him a firm nod.

"Yes, sir."

A few words were passed here and there, but it was otherwise quiet between the flying duo as they continued to descend closer and closer to the opening of the forest where HQ was. Caryn did her best to ignore the feeling of Levi pressed up against her.

How could a mere human break through the wall that she had so carefully built around herself? Never in her long life had she been infatuated with _anyone, _be that god or human. She didn't necessarily want to be tied down to someone for the fear of either losing them or constantly bickering with them. It was not in her best interest to take a lover.

But she somehow felt that this man...

This strict, cold-blooded, human male…

Would find some way to convince her otherwise.

She smelt the faint scent of pine and mint wafting up to her nose, and she sniffed faintly. Levi wasn't focusing on her anymore, so she moved ever so slightly closer to him, smelling him as quietly as she could. The good thing was that he didn't hear her sniffling.

His smell was almost intoxicating, and she had the sudden urge to bury her nose into the crook of his neck.

'_No. I am not some type of dog. It is NOT going to happen.' _She scolded herself, leaning back away from him and scanning the area around them. Another thought popped into her head.

'_Just…what is he to me?'_

Caryn didn't know. But she had a feeling that sooner or later, she was going to find out whether she had liked it or not.

**(o~o~o~)**

**So sorry for the late update! Hope that this chapter makes up for it (':**

**The next chapter will be action-packed and fun! It will be another whopper, so please don't hate me if I update a bit late. Thank you all for your support so far! I really love you guys!**

**Till next time.**

**~M**


	6. New, Confusing Feelings

**A/N: Hooray for LevixCarynnnn~**

**Annnnnd that's about it. (;**

**(o~o~o~)**

She was ready.

After what seemed like an agonizingly long trip back to HQ, Caryn and Levi finally caught up to Erwin and Petra, who were chatting animatedly in front of what looked to be a dirt-grounded training area. It had some trees here and there, but it was otherwise barren. A couple of soldiers stood several feet away, and they looked to be sparring.

Much to her relief, Levi sat her down and gave her a warning look, as if not to do something stupid. Of course, she didn't plan on it. She was just prone to making bad decisions sometimes, especially on Earth.

The duo strode towards the commander and his subordinate, averting their attention to them. Caryn's eyes lit up when she saw that Erwin had Exodus with him at his side, and she thought he almost looked a bit like Kadir with the way he was standing with it.

"Good, you've finally arrived." He smiled at the two, and Levi's eyes twitched at the almost teasing tone of his superior's voice. "I thought we had lost you for a minute there."

"Shut up, Erwin. Had it not been for this brat, I would have been here before you." Levi scowled, crossing his arms over his chest in aggravation. He was not amused with the blonde-haired commander, not one bit.

Caryn felt a bit guilty that she had slowed Levi down a bit, but it didn't fully consume her because even though he wasn't as fast as Erwin at the time, he was still incredibly quick. He had moved effortlessly through the air as if she was as light as a feather.

Erwin lifted a brow at the raven-haired corporal. "What did you do?" he asked, a mischievous glint tinting his blue eyes. Levi made a '_tch' _sound, eyes darting towards the blonde goddess before diverting them again.

"This shitty-woman was nearly pissing her pants in fear for failing with the 3DMG, so I had to carry her."

"Aww! Was shorty being nice to a cadet for once? How sweet of him!" a voice interrupted them, squealing in delight at the thought of Levi actually helping someone out.

As Hanji popped out of nowhere, startling both Petra and Caryn, she scanned her eyes over the two woman before letting them fall on the goddess, her eyes sparkling. She lunged, pulling the shorter girl into a tight hug. Caryn's breath let itself out with a _'whoosh'_.

"How's my little test subject doing todayyyy?!~" She asked cheerfully, hugging the life out of the deity. The others watched as her face began to turn a purplish-hue.

"F-Fine, now please let go, Hanji! I can't breathe!" Caryn begged the scientist, and Hanji's mouth formed into an 'o' shape before she let go, laughing half-heartedly.

'_Are all humans that strong? Sheesh.'_

"Hehe, sorry."

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, the scowl still marring his face as he watched the two annoying girls in front of him. "Damnit, four-eyes. She's not here for you to dissect. Today is strictly evaluation and training." He told the pony-tailed woman, and she huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

"I knew that! I just wanted to give her a little warm greeting is all!" she explained, waving her hands wildly. Levi just rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore the crazy woman's antics and tune back into the more important matters.

"I'm glad that you came, Hanji. Let's begin now," he instructed, and Levi clenched his teeth in silent anger.

'_That fucking bastard. Why the hell would he invite shitty-glasses?!'_

Erwin looked at Caryn with calculating eyes, studying her quickly before continuing. "First, we would like to see just how powerful this weapon of yours is. You seemed to have used it fairly well in battle, so we'd like to see the full extent of its power."

Caryn nodded in understanding. "Of course. But may I ask one thing, first?"

"Proceed."

"Can I please take this gear off first? It will halt my movements." She asked meekly, running her finger along the cool metal top of the maneuvering gear. Erwin chuckled, waving his hand.

"That's fine. Go on ahead."

The goddess didn't spare a second word as she quickly unbuckled all off the belts and taking off the gear with it, hearing it clink as it hit the ground and letting out a sigh of relief. Considering the belts on her legs were still attached, the uniform continued to feel a bit tight, but at least she could breathe.

The four of them were amused when she did this, and Erwin grasped Exodus, holding the hilt out to Caryn and watching her take it in silence and determination. She tilted her head to the side in confusion, looking around her. What would she use Exodus on? Surely not people?

"Commander, how would you like me to demonstrate my skills? Not on your own soldiers, correct?"

"Correct," he agreed, pointing to some average looked trees that were pretty thick. "You can attack those trees there, considering we were going to cut them down soon anyways. They are constantly in the way of a soldier's sparring match."

Caryn's eyes landed on the nearest tree from her, and she rolled her shoulders to loosen them up, changing her stance and getting ready to pounce. Levi was in his element earlier; well, now she was in hers.

Tilting Exodus up a bit, she lunged, flying towards the tree with breakneck speed, cutting it cleanly down the hilt less than seconds. But of course, she wasn't done yet. There were at least eight more trees in the area that needed to be cut down.

'_I'll pretend that they're enemies…'_

Picturing them as threats in her mind, she quickly moved on from one to the other, repeating how she cut the latter down before moving on again and again.

'_Seven, six, five…'_

Again, she gave more clean cuts. It was _too _easy. But she wanted to move faster.

'_Four, three, two…'_

As she skidded to a stop in front of the last tree, she imagined it was the most dangerous enemy of all; the boss. She glared, raising her weapon.

'_One…!'_

Pure adrenaline shot through her veins as she swiftly cut through the tree, but this time, gave it no mercy as she continued her assault on the bark, slicing through the middle and cutting the wood into neat, shapely logs that would be perfect for firewood. The logs hit the dirt ground in a row of about six, the other end of the tree fallen next to the panting blonde.

She turned around to look at her superiors, waiting for their comments. Petra's face looked absolutely stunned, as did Hanji as she held a pocket watch in her hand, the time on it stopped. Levi's expression was unreadable, and his stare penetrated hers with cold, slate-grey eyes. He looked as if he expected this out of her. Of course, he should have. Erwin looked surprised and impressed at the display, turning to Hanji while she was standing beside him.

"Hanji, did you clock her?"

"Y-Yes, I did." She confirmed. Erwin frowned at her stuttering, trying to peer down at the watch in her hand.

"And her timing was?"

Hanji paused, the air potent with puzzlement and shock. Caryn thumped her fingers against her thigh, a bit nervous as to why it was taking the scientist so long to reply. Had she done horrible?

"Six point eighty-two seconds, sir."

Caryn sighed in relief. She had done better than she thought she would. Of course, it was only trees that were standing in her way at the time, but it was good to know that she could rely on her speed when need be.

"Impressive," Erwin commented, praising the blonde-haired deity. "Caryn, you are almost as fast as Humanity's Strongest. He may have some competition." He chuckled lightly, his eyes shifting to the short, stoic man. Said man glared at the commander.

"The hell are you saying? She only cut down a few trees. There's nothing special about that."

Caryn blinked, laughing sheepishly and lightly prodding her cheek. She wasn't sure how far Levi could extend his power, so she didn't want to judge and say that she was more skilled than he. That would surely anger him more.

"Why don't we see for ourselves, then?" Erwin suggested, a ghost of a smirk on his face as he challenged the shorter man. Levi's expression darkened drastically, a shadow falling over his face.

"What are you playing at?" he growled.

"I want the both of you to spar. It would be interesting to see who the winner would be, yes?"

Petra's and Hanji's eyes widened, and Levi gritted his teeth in anger.

"E-Eh?!" Caryn's eyes were the size of saucers. Not only did she not want to spar with him, she didn't want to bear near him right now, especially since she wasn't good at hiding her embarrassment.

But, she did wonder a bit. Was he as powerful as she? Or maybe even more powerful? Could he be as strong as a god?

"No fucking way," Levi snapped harshly at his commander, who was still giving that same challenging smirk. "I'm not going to get my hands dirty just to show up some pansy cadet."

The blonde goddess felt a little offended. Sure, she wasn't a squad leader or a high rank like him, but that didn't make her any less strong. Maybe she should prove her skill to the one bluntly denying it.

"It's an order, Levi." Erwin said, and that was the end of it. Levi made a _'tch' _sound, knowing that he couldn't defy a direct order. "Draw your blades and stand a couple feet away. I will referee this match. Considering there are no more trees around, it will be easier to move around." He looked at Caryn before looking back to Levi again.

"And no using your 3DMG. Caryn has already taken hers off, so we wouldn't want it to be an unfair battle between you two."

At his command, Levi drew his blades from his 3DMG, moving a little closer and standing a few steps away from her. He stopped, an impassive look on his face as he stared at her. His eyes pierced her like knives, and Caryn shivered at the coldness in them. He looked like a completely different person.

He held the blades in both hands, pointing them towards her and Caryn followed suit, putting out a hand in front of her for balance and raising Exodus parallel to the ground in a fighting stance.

'_Those eyes…' _she thought, her own hardening as she stared at her Captain quietly.

'_Those eyes…are the eyes of a killer.'_

She hated to admit it, she really did, but...

She was scared.

She was scared, but prepared.

'_Knowing him, I can't let my guard down at all. This is bound to be a long, tiresome fight. Unless…'_

An idea popped into her head, and at first, she didn't want to act on it. But it was proving to be a pain when she tried to ignore it. Biting her lip slightly, she closed her eyes, calling on her power.

'_I'll be able to find weak spots, but I won't kill him. If I can just disarm him, that will be enough of a victory for me.'_

Opening her eyes again, this time they shown a bright, sparkling gold instead of her regular hazel-blue. Levi looked at her in shock before quickly wiping the look of his face, the expression now replaced with a monotonous one. If the others were shocked as well, she couldn't see it as her gaze was focused only on the Corporal, the weak spots of his body glowing red while the rest of him was orange and yellow. The blades were blue, signaling that they were a threat to her safety. Everything else that was an inanimate object was either black or green. This was a truly helpful power that she possessed.

'_Rogue Sight. I'll just have to trust that I won't blow a fuse too early.'_

Erwin had made his way into the duo's view, and a few other soldiers watched from afar, interested in their sparring match instead of their own. The blonde commander lifted a hand in the air. In a cutting motion, he swung it down.

"Begin."

It was as if time stopped.

For a minute, neither Levi nor Caryn moved an inch, and they silently stared at one another, trying to penetrate each other's gazes. Neither of them backed down, not one bit. Caryn hadn't felt nervous in the slightest. Right now, he was her enemy; an enemy that was standing in the way of her goal, and she could not let him beat her.

She would win.

Finally, Caryn inched herself forward, getting ready to pounce.

But it was all for nothing when Levi suddenly disappeared, his aura and all.

Caryn gasped in surprise, looking everywhere around her. It was like he vanished in thin air.

Not even a second later, she felt an alarming presence behind her, and quickly reacting, she swung Exodus. A sharp _'ting' _was heard as her sword connected with both of Levi's, the ravenette pushing his blades down on hers and making her skid a bit backwards, her feet dragging into the dirt and kicking up dust.

'_S-So fast! I couldn't even feel him moving!'_

The strength he possessed was nothing short of impressive as he kept bearing his weight down on her, making Exodus cut a little into her left hand as she gripped it with her right. Gritting her teeth, she pushed back even though it wasn't very effective.

"So you blocked that, huh? Can't really say I'm surprised." He said, his eyes narrowing dangerously at her and waiting for her to back down. But there was no way she would.

"I'm not as weak as I may look, so don't underestimate me." Caryn replied, giving a challenging smile. Levi's lips twitched, and for a second, he had smirked at her cockiness.

"It wasn't like I was planning to. But I do feel like hurrying this up, so…" he brought his swords up, his actions a blur as he swung down again and trying to disarm her in the process. But Caryn saw him coming before he even moved.

Evading the attack, she dodged the oncoming threat and sliced the right side of Levi's bicep, tearing his shirt and making him bleed as a small cut was placed there. She made a move to disarm his as well, but what stopped short as he blocked Exodus.

"Tch. Look what you did now, brat. You ruined a perfectly good shirt." He complained, and before she could process his movement, he moved with incredible speed, kicking her in the gut and slicing her cheek with his blades. Her golden blood began to pour out of the cut, and she flew back a few feet, hitting the ground before somersaulting and getting back to her feet.

"So sorry, Captain. But I don't intend on losing." She wiped her cheek with her sleeve, hoping that the cut would heal fast. Having wounds on your face wasn't very fun to deal with. Levi moved with precision, flying towards her and slashing her in the thigh. Yet another cut.

"And neither do I."

The fight continued on, with both sides getting cuts here and there. Levi and Caryn never backed down against each other, their speed and strength so impressive it was almost terrifying. By the time they had reached twenty minutes without stopping, half of the Scout Regiment were watching their match.

In a shocking breakthrough, Caryn had dodged the oncoming blades with perfect timing, giving her the perfect view of both oh his weapons and his hands.

'_There!'_

She swung Exodus down, and when it made contact with Levi's blades, her weapon cut cleanly through the both of them, shortening them down to the size of medium-length knives. Even when she did that, Levi wasn't fazed.

The both of them made distance away from each other, Caryn panting and Levi, nothing. He still looked impassive as ever, as if nothing bothered him in the least. How the hell was _he_ not tired and _she _was?

Then, the squad leader did something she didn't expect; he put his left blade and clasp away, now only holding his right blade. He shifted his stance slightly, looking much like her own. And then, once again, he disappeared, alarming the goddess to a grave extent.

This time, he was gone longer than she expected. She could hear the shuffling of feet all around her, and it was starting to make her feel paranoid. Caryn looked left and right, up and down, even behind her, and he wasn't there.

'_Goddesses, just where did he go?!' _

_**WHACK!**_

A cry, more shocked than pained, left Caryn's throat as a leg kicked her side, sending her barreling towards the ground. Cheers went up into the air by the soldiers as Exodus flew from her grasp, ending up on the opposite side of the sparring grounds.

And then, without being able to react fast enough, she was pinned onto her back.

Levi straddled the deity, grabbing a fistful of her hair as she was beneath him and had the blade pointed at her jugular to not make any sudden movements. She had lost all of her defenses, and she stared gaping at him. This was Humanity's Strongest.

'_I…lost…?'_

"Looks like I win." Levi smirked faintly at the wide-eyed, stunned cadet. She didn't move, didn't speak.

'_I…really lost..'_

Much to his dismay, tears began to prick Caryn's eyes. They were hardly visible, but they were there. They shimmered slightly in her eyes before spilling over, the gold streaks catching the rays of the sun. Levi raised a confused brow.

"What the hell? Why are you crying?"

'_I lost…what kind of goddess am I, if I can't even beat a human? He's too strong…'_

A choked sob escaped her, and she threw an arm over her eyes, the tears now out of view as Levi slowly took the blade away from her throat, questioning her sanity. What was the matter with this girl? She should have been proud of herself; no one had lasted that long with him in a sparring match before.

"Oi, stop crying! It's not that big of a deal." He snapped at her, but the blonde didn't reply as she continued to cry. It was starting to irritate him. He had never seen someone so broken about losing a fight, and even worse, he didn't know how to make her stop bawling.

'_Damnit, I'm not good at this kind of thing! Why the hell was I stuck watching such a cry-baby?!' _he thought, already regretting his decision of taking responsibility for her.

Caryn cried and cried; she had never been this upset about losing before. Maybe it was because she thought of herself as weak, or maybe because she lost to a human. Why she was crying so hard, she didn't know. All she knew was she couldn't stop the tears from overflowing over her waterline.

The hand that was gripping her hair let go, then was placed on the top of her head, just nearly ruffling her bangs and mussing them up. Her tears finally halted and she removed the arm from her eyes, looking at Levi through blurred vision. He looked irritated, but his eyes held remorse as he continued to awkwardly stroke the top of her head. The gesture was gentle and made her wonder how he could transition from annoyed to reassuring so fast, as it wasn't like him at all to be comforting someone.

"Are you quite done, brat?" Levi asked, his voice harsh but his touch was anything but. Caryn blinked, nodding her head as a few stray gold tears escaped her eyes just being the last ones to fall.

They stared unblinking into each other's eyes, and Levi took the time to take in her appearance. For a woman, she was rather tiny, but so was he for a man. Her white-blonde hair was a disheveled mess and was starting to come out of her pony-tail from him pulling it, and her bangs mussed up her face as he continued to pat the top of her head. Her eyes were a sparkling hazel-blue, now back to their original color and not that strange gold one. Her cheeks and eyes were flushed and red because of her crying, but her expression softened to a relaxed one when she had ceased it. He didn't know that he could have this kind of influence on someone, especially someone like her.

He felt a bit conflicted when his heartrate began to pick up speed just by looking at her, and he felt a strange feeling in his gut. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't like it. It was as if this goddess had a power over him that no one else had. No one should have power over him, though. He was Humanity's Strongest Soldier, he should possess a power like no other. And he did.

'_Damn this woman, making me forget what kind of situation we're in.'_

For a few seconds, they sat there, taking in each other's presence and forgetting everything else around them.

Caryn wanted to stare at him forever. She had seen many handsome gods, and even humans that were more appealing that Levi was, but there was something special about him that didn't make him like all the other immortal and mortal males. Something that she liked, but couldn't put her finger on it.

She resisted the urge to reach out and touch his smooth, ivory cheek, and just took his appearance in instead. Raven hair that was shaved neatly into an undercut, and his bangs brushed his forehead softly, looking just like dark feathers. His eyes were beautiful; slate-grey orbs that held most of his emotion that he couldn't show on his face. Caryn could notice that he had shadowed bags under them, probably from insomnia. She didn't blame him with the current occupation he was in. He was toned for someone of short stature, and she almost regretted when she had sliced his bicep open.

To her, he was even more beautiful than any god she had seen.

The blonde had wanted to wonder why she was acting so infatuated with this human male named Levi Ackerman, but she didn't have any answers to her own questions. All she could do was stare and enjoy his presence and his aura, which for once was calm and inviting.

And then, she blindly realized something.

He was on top of her.

In front of a large crowd.

And he was being _affectionate _towards her.

Caryn's cheeks heated up to a scorching red color, making Levi lift a brow at her sudden humiliation. He was straddling her in front of nearly the whole entire Legion! If he didn't get off right then and there, than people would begin to assume things!

"Ahhh!" she suddenly let out a mortified scream, shocking Levi out of his stupor. His hand left her head and she began to squirm under him, trying to push him off of her. But he wouldn't budge. He was too surprised at her outburst.

"Offoffoffoffoff!"

When he didn't comply fast enough, Caryn placed both hands on his chest, pushing him with force as a gust of wind escaped her hands, dislodging him from her. He did a flip in the air before landing gracefully on his feet, his features plagued with a furious look. His glare was nothing short of frightening.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" he snarled, and Caryn rushed to her feet while looking away from him. She was brighter than a tomato from embarrassment. She had just let _Lance Corporal Levi _straddle her, and he didn't even seem bothered by their position one bit! That was her problem.

"P-Pervert!" she shouted at him, picking up pebbles and chucking them childishly. He scowled, leaning left and right to avoid being hit by the tiny assaulters. He took measured steps toward the blonde, but with the last pebble she threw, which bounced off his head, she fled behind the tall safety of Erwin's back.

"Get back here, you shitty-brat! I'm going to kick your ass!"

Erwin looked amusedly behind him at the cowering goddess, then turned back to gaze out at all the soldiers who had gathered to watch the fight commence. He cleared his throat, speaking in authority to the crowd.

"Everyone, go back to your stations immediately. This battle is now over."

Without a second thought, they disbanded, some muttering grouchily while others chatting animatedly about the battle between a goddess and humanity's strongest. A conversation that would surely pique the interests of people for years to come.

After everyone except for the five of them were gone, Erwin held a hand up to halt Levi, who was trying to get around him to the blonde who was hiding behind his broad back. "Easy, Levi. It's over now."

"Stop protecting her. She needs to face her punishment for disrespecting her superior." Levi insisted, glaring at the commander with eyes that promised retribution. Erwin just shook his head at the ravenette.

"Nonsense. She's definitely a skilled edition to the Corps." He turned to smile at the goddess who, in turn, gave a sheepish one back. She came out of hiding and stood beside the commander, and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You and Eren Yeager may just be the pieces that were missing from our puzzle all these years. We're glad to have your contribution."

Caryn grinned widely at the praise, saluting Erwin with pride. She may have not won against Levi, but that didn't mean she was any less powerful. Yes, he was a frightening person, and yes, he was Humanity's Strongest. But maybe somewhere there was a category for her to fill in the Scout Regiment.

"Thank you, sir."

"Not at all," he dismissed, giving her shoulder a pat. "I think that's enough training for today. Make use of the remaining time you have left and go wash up and get situated." He turned his back, walking off back in the direction of the castle. "Tomorrow, our expedition commences."

"E-Expedition? You mean to say that tomorrow is the day we venture back outside the walls?" she asked, watching as Erwin faded out of her sight. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Indeed. I suggest you rest up well."

And with that, he disappeared out of sight. A shiver went up the goddess's spine. She knew that she would soon be going on a mission again, but not _this _soon. What if she wasn't fully prepared to face more titans?

'_No, I can't think like that. I have to be strong. I'm protecting humanity, I'm not in the sanctuary of Elysium anymore.'_ She thought, clenching her fist tightly.

"Don't worry, Caryn. You'll be with us the whole time, we've got your back!" Petra reassured her, meeting her gaze. She smiled cheerfully at the blonde, but even if she acted that way, she still held fear in her honey-colored orbs. Caryn relaxed some, nodding at the shorter girl and giving her a small smile.

And then, she was once again stuck in a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm so proud of you, my little test subject!" Hanji squealed, spinning the goddess too much for her liking. Her face took on a greenish hue, not only suffocating, but also feeling sick as the scientist continued to hold her in a tight embrace.

"Like I said before, today is _strictly_ training," Levi grumbled, watching the pair for the second time today as they hugged. Well, Hanji was mostly squeezing the life out of his new subordinate, and she lay limp in the taller woman's arms.

"Oh, I know that Levi! Well, I better go file these reports now. Bye, have fun!" she set the blonde down, a little roughly as Petra steadied her when she almost toppled over. Hanji left the way Erwin disappeared in, going through the same doors he had and disappearing behind them.

Levi sighed, running a hand through his hair. '_That woman is a pain in the ass.'_

"Are you alright? You look as if you're going to be sick." Petra asked worriedly, and Caryn waved her off with a sluggish hand, the green color still not gone from her cheeks.

"I'm fine, I just need the world to stop spinning at the moment." The deity laughed half-heartedly before coming to her senses, the dizziness feeling now completely faded. Her relief was short lived when Levi flicked her on her forehead, causing Caryn to let out a squeak.

"Ow!" she rubbed the area where he had flicked her, pouting at him as he crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't sorry in the slightest for his actions.

"Punishment for throwing rocks at me, brat." He told her, amused at how hard she tried to rub the feeling of pain from her forehead. Her attempts were in vain when she had tried, though.

"Captain, I'm going to go train with the others. Is that okay?" Petra asked, referring to the rest of the squad that was in the forest busy defeating wooden Titans. Levi nodded, not giving her a second glance as she saluted, heading towards the tree line and using the 3DMG to lift herself onto the branches and vanishing from sight.

Levi began to head to the castle headquarters, calling to the dazed blonde behind him. "Follow me, cadet."

Caryn obliged, following him suit and running to catch up with him. It was a bit nerving; despite being so short, his strides were much longer than hers, and caused her to be slower than him. Seeing her struggle to keep up, he slowed down a bit to match her pace, which she was grateful for.

"May I ask where we are going, Captain?" she asked curiously, now using formalities again. She hadn't meant to call him a Pervert earlier, it was just that she was thoroughly embarrassed when she was pinned by him. He was _so _close to her in that moment.

"Showing you to your punishment."

When she gave an incredulous look, he glared at her. "What? Did you think I would let you off the hook so easily? Not a chance." He instantly denied her. He knew what she was thinking. She wanted to go take a shower and change into cleaner clothes. To be honest, so did he. He would go wash up right after he gave her the punishment she deserved.

Caryn wanted to disobey; Erwin had said to rest, but Levi wasn't letting her. What happened to him? He was being so kind not too long ago. She was conflicted with his mixed feelings and emotions.

'_Let's just hope it's not something extreme, like another beating. I'll do anything but that.'_

She instantly regretted her thoughts.

**(o~o~o~)**

"I _cannot, _and repeat, _CANNOT _believe this!"

Caryn cursed Levi in her mind over and over again, but it wasn't enough to stop her from vigorously moving the mop around on the floor, spreading the dirt instead of cleaning it.

Her punishment wasn't as harsh as she expected it to be; but that went both ways. When she hadn't gotten a severe punishment, she was glad. But even if it ended up to be mild, she was still pissed beyond belief.

He had given her _cleaning _du_ty, _of all things! '_I want this whole entire room spotless.' _He had ordered her before leaving her to clean the gigantic room, which looked to be an office, by herself.

In normal circumstances, she wouldn't have minded cleaning. But the thing was, the room was completely _spotless!_

"This is ridiculous. I have never cleaned this big of a room in my entire life!" she complained, spreading the dirty water around the room's floors. Seriously, the only dirty part of the room was the floor, because of the dirt scuffs from boots. And that was it. Why did everything else, which was all perfectly clean, need to be scrubbed down?!

Caryn was starting to feel like she shouldn't care for insulting the Captain. In fact, when she saw him again, she would most likely give him an earful that he wouldn't want to listen to. Yeah, that's exactly what she'd do! Cleaning was a maid's job, not a princesses!

After (grudgingly) finishing the floor, she grabbed a nearby stool, standing on top of it to reach the high shelves of a bookshelf. She dusted it lightly, bringing the duster to her face and closely inspecting it. Not one fleck of dust. Not one.

Groaning, she continued to dust nothing. Caryn tried her best to keep her balance on the wobbly stool, which was probably somewhat broken. Possibly one of the legs. Shrugging, she kept cleaning, moving up one shelf to glide the duster over the polished surface.

"You're doing it wrong, idiot."

A startled cry escaped her throat. Levi had entered the room since the door was wide open, watching her from his position in the doorway. She began to fumble, a mistake she made when she turned around to look at him. Clicking his tongue, he rushed to her side and caught her before she could hit the hard floor.

"Just how many goddamn times am I going to have to catch you today?" he scolded her, wanting to flick her again but since both of his arms were occupied, he decided against it.

For the second, no, _third _time today, Levi was touching her. Goose fleck broke out on the small of her back and her left upper-arm, the spots where his hands lay. It was like she was totally and utterly enthralled by him. Shaking her head furiously, she distanced herself from him so that they didn't have the same moment they had when he had straddled her earlier.

"S-S-Sorry, Captain. You startled me, and the stool I was using wasn't stable. Oh, and the shelves are completely spotless. I-I was just doing a run through over them just to be safe." She assured him, placing her hands behind her back and clasping them. Her hair hid her blush, and she could hear the shuffle of his boots against the floor as he moved.

"Oh really? I'll be the judge of that." He declared, running a finger along the smooth surface of the clean shelf. Not one speck of dust caught his finger, and he nodded in approval. "Well done. I was expecting you to fail drastically, but you don't do a half-assed job like every other cadet does."

As relieved as she was, Caryn was angry that he made her clean a room that was already dirt-and-dust free. "With all due respect, _Captain,_" she punctuated strongly, making him turn a harsh glare on her. "This room was already done when I had begun to clean it. Why didn't you give me a dirtier area?"

"Don't question me, cadet. I gave you orders and you are to follow them. Unless you'd like to continue where we left off in the courthouse?" he mocked her, his expression cold and unfeeling. Caryn shuddered when she felt that familiar aura palpate the room, making her feel defenseless against the raven-haired Corporal.

'_Damn him and his strong vibes,' _she thought bitterly, lowering her head in silent submission. No matter how much she had wanted to talk back, she couldn't. He was her superior and any disrespect given to him would result in more intense punishment.

"No, sir. I apologize for speaking informally."

"Tch."

Levi couldn't really bring himself to stay mad at her for more than a couple minutes. She was too innocent, too polite. In a way, Caryn almost reminded him of Petra. They had the same gentle demeanor and strong determination. It was almost as if they were twins, though fraternal considering they looked nothing alike.

He sighed, squeezing the back of his neck and going to sit at the large, plush chair that was right by a matching desk. "It never hurts to keep one's office space clean, does it?"

Caryn let her mind process his words. Ones…office…clean…

And then she realized, this was _Levi's office. _

She was puzzled. He had kept his work area so clean, not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere in sight. Maybe he was a clean freak?

"You're dismissed. Go clean up, you're filthy and I don't feel like mopping the floor again because of your dirty ass boots." He ordered, shuffling through some papers on his desk while waving a hand at her nonchalantly. The goddess's eyebrow twitched. If he hadn't wanted her to dirty the floor, then why didn't he just let her clean up _before _she came here?

Letting out a small sigh, she turned her back on the ravenette and exiting out the door with a quiet _'yes sir'. _She had hope that cleaning wouldn't be the only job she was left with. Besides, she wasn't very good at cleaning. She had only skimmed over the room since it wasn't dirty. But what would she do when he assigned her to one that was actually filthy. Gulping slightly, she turned the hall, heading to the room she shared with Petra to grab fresh clothes and head to the women's showers.

As Levi watched her go, he was captured by the long blonde hair that went just past her hips. He wondered how she would be able to take care of such a thing when she was now a soldier in the Survey Corps. The training here was rigorous, especially his. And knowing just how injury prone she was, her hair would definitely get in the way if she didn't cut it.

'_I'll let her know to shorten the length later. But honestly…'_

Honestly, Levi had found her white-blonde hair to be a capturing, attractive feature. Usually, he didn't care for women much. He considered them equal to men, as long as they obeyed him and had admirable skill. But he was intrigued with the goddess; nothing seemed to faze her in dangerous situations. Not even if her hair had gotten in the way. Somehow, she had kept it from distracting her, proof of when she sparred with him. But it had also cost her. Levi found this as a weakness when he had decided to use that attribute against her, tugging on her hair firmly to get a good grip on her when he pinned her.

The goddess had seemed enamored with him while she gazed back at him then, but that moment had been short lived when she had turned embarrassed, sending him flying off of her with one of her powers. It felt like an insanely strong gust of wind. She had other powers that she was hiding from them, but not for long.

And then Levi recalled the time she called him a pervert, when he was anything but. That was the first time in his life that he had actually stared at a woman for that long. How did that make him a pervert? He began to feel indignant about the whole thing again, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He admitted that he had almost wanted to beat her senseless again for calling him that in front of nearly the whole entire Legion, but decided against it. When he had seen the absolute fear in her hazel-blue orbs, he couldn't bring himself to harm her like that again. After all, the time when he had in the courtroom was to save her.

Levi saw just how afraid most cadets were of him, and even some squad leaders, but he hadn't seen someone look at him with that much trepidation in their eyes before. It was a bit unnerving, to say in the least; he knew that she trusted him, but to what extent?

'_Enough thinking about the brat. I have more important things to do,' _he scolded himself, inking the tip of his quill and beginning to write the reports in long, cursive scrawl. He had a lot of work to do before the expedition tomorrow.

**(o~o~o~)**

After taking a long, comforting shower and changing into (thankfully) much more comfortable clothing, Caryn had met with her squad after dinner in an empty dining hall, the room dimmed because of a small oil-lamp. It was a rather relaxing atmosphere, but the air was still tinged with the feeling of nervousness and dread. She knew it was because of the expedition tomorrow, and she shared the feeling with the rest of her comrades. Everyone chatted with one another, having conversations about non-related Titan things. The goddess was grateful that no one had brought up the oncoming mission. Well, _yet._

"Here," the voice next to her spoke, and a hand reached out with a teapot to refill her cup for her. The tea wasn't ambrosia water, but it was just as soothing. Caryn decided that when she got the chance, she would share her beverage with them, just as they had with her.

"Thank you, Eren." She smiled at the brunette teen who in turn smiled back at her. She hadn't spoken much to the boy before now, but she learned that he was rather kind, aside from the seriousness about killing every last Titan. But who could blame him? They all wanted to extinguish the giant beasts.

"No problem."

"Say, Eren…" Caryn looked into the male's teal-green eyes, a spark of appreciation in her own orbs. "I actually wanted to thank you for before."

Eren looked at the goddess in slight confusion. "For before?"

Caryn wanted to roll her eyes at the poor memory he seemed to have, but decided to bear with him. "For carrying me when I was injured. I had thought you would have left me there, considering the danger you were all in. I thought you wouldn't be able to afford to stop there and take me with you all."

Realization came over his features, and he laughed sheepishly, alerting some of her comrade's eyes their way. "O-Oh! You meant that," he waved his hands drastically, his eyes set in gratitude of the blonde-haired deity. "If anything, I should be thanking you. You saved us, Caryn. If you hadn't of attacked when you did, we would all probably be titan fodder by now."

Caryn grinned brightly, and the gesture was contagious when the teen grinned back. "I guess we both have something to be thankful for, right?" She insisted, bringing the boy into a warm embrace. Eren blushed as the goddesses arms suddenly wrapped around his neck, not used to the affection. Mikasa hugged him all the time, but this was different. He felt all of his worries melt away when her skin had touched his, as if she had the power to take all of his troubles and store them into a locked chest. His arms hesitantly came around the smaller girls back, as if she was as fragile as a porcelain doll.

'_Crap, do I like her?' _Eren thought alarmingly, trying to control his red face. He sure hope he didn't, he had a feeling it wouldn't be good for him _or _her.

Caryn already adored the brunette boy. She had overheard Levi talking about him, saying that he was stubborn and didn't know how to obey orders, but that was hard to believe for her. He was actually very sweet. He almost reminded him of Eadric, who had a strong spirit but cared a lot for his family and friends. Remembering him had made her miss everyone back in Elysium.

'_I wonder…when will I be able to see them again?'_

Unbeknownst to her, but not to Eren, tears began to fall out of her eyes. She seemed to be having mixed emotions today. The green-eyed boy saw something glimmer out of the corner of his eye, where Caryn was leaning her head on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly, seeing the gold streaks marring her face and alarming him.

"H-Hey, don't cry!" he panicked, pushing her shoulders gently to look at her face. She had indeed been crying, and her eyes were glazed over. He had remembered seeing her golden tears in the courtroom, and guilt creeped into his stomach.

"What did you say to her, Eren?!" Petra asked suspiciously, watching each shimmering tear fall down the goddesses pale cheeks. She had a nostalgic look on her face as if she was reliving a memory. Each of his teammates, including his Captain, had their gazes set on the two now.

"I-I didn't say anything! She just started to cry suddenly!" he exclaimed, waving his hands wildly to reassure squad Levi. Said Corporal just leaned his chin into his hand, watching them in boredom. Truthfully, he had wanted to wring Eren's neck right then and there, but he didn't know why. He had a sudden feeling of dread upon seeing Caryn cry for the second time today.

"I'm sorry," the blonde spoke, wiping her tears away quickly and giving them all a small, reassuring smile. "Eren had just reminded me of my family, and I began to feel emotional because of it. You didn't do anything wrong." She placed her hand on top of Eren's head, ruffling his brunette hair lightly. "You just remind me so much of my brother is all. You both act the same way."

When she took her hand away, the teen rushed to fix his hair in slight embarrassment, making the deity laugh. He gave her a confused look. "Y-You have a brother?"

"Not one brother, but two." Caryn rolled her eyes and gave an amused smile. "Both of which have extremely hard-headed temperaments, but otherwise are very gentle and kind. Just like you."

Eren blushed again, scratching the back of his neck. "Heh, thanks I guess?"

Levi's eyebrow twitched unpleasantly at their conversation, now annoyed beyond measure when they were oblivious to anyone and everything around them but themselves. "Are you love-sick puppies quite done, or do you need a bedroom to follow as well?"

"N-no, sir." The duo replied in unison, blushes now staining both their cheeks for ignoring their comrades so easily. The group laughed, the tension in the room finally dying down some. Even their prized Captain gave a twitch of his lips, barely a smile, but it was there as he covered it with his teacup.

"So, Eren," Petra called to him, alerting the teen. "I heard that about a month from now, your friends from the 104th trainees are coming in."

"Y-Yeah, that's right. But aren't we having an expedition then, too? Don't you think that's going to be a little too soon for them?" Eren asked, worried for his childhood friends and comrades that he met during his trainee years.

"That's right. And I agree entirely. They've been through enough, even as cadets who've already had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with the Titans." Gunther confirmed, a grave look on his face. Oluo and Petra nodded in agreement.

"Mission planning isn't my responsibility," Levi piped in, throwing an arm carelessly behind his chair. "But it is Erwin's. And you can bet that the man's obsessed with every angle of it."

"That's a truth. Especially given how unique the situation is." Eld also added his two cents in, leaning his elbows on the tabletop. "Considering how many people died while trying to take back wall Maria, then hope comes in a form no one expected. Well, one's that we're not entirely sure how to deal with." He glanced over at Caryn and Eren, making them stiffen nervously.

The group continued to stare at the two people they considered anomoly's to humanity, the atmosphere once again tight with tenstion. Caryn didn't like it one bit, and averted her gaze from the rest of theirs. Staring into their eyes meant showing them her most conflicted feelings, and that wasn't acceptable.

"Most of us still find it pretty hard to believe," Eld continued, narrowing his eyes at the duo. "So, just how do you guys function? The whole changing into a Titan trick, and using these so-called powers of yours."

Eren spoke first, and Caryn relaxed in gratitude. "Wish I could tell you, but I don't really know myself. My memory isn't clear enough to remember. It's almost as if I'm in some sort of trance. All I know is that I have to inflict some type of pain on myself—" he stopped short, his eyes widening.

"You're not going to get anything out of him, so just forget it." Levi's gaze landed on the goddess, who was busy twirling the ends of her long, blonde hair, unaware of his stare. "On the other hand, blondie is different."

Caryn felt her eyebrow twitch the slightest bit in irritation. _'So its blondie now, is it? He just doesn't know when to cease the useless nicknaming process.'_

"Earlier, when we were sparring," Oluo's, Eld's, Eren's, and Gunther's eyes widened in surprise at this sudden confession, and Petra just smirked. She had already saw first-hand the intense battle between man and goddess. "She kept up with me without almost breaking a sweat. Almost." He smirked cockily, taking another sip of his tea. "After nearly twenty-five minutes, I rose as the victor in the end. Her skills are a force to be reckoned with. As for her powers, I didn't really get the chance to witness them for myself, but she did surprisingly throw a little bit of wind at me. Shit hit me like a thousand bricks."

"I-I hadn't meant to! I was just ashamed is all!" Caryn protested, hiding her face in her hands to stop her rising blush. She seemed to be doing a lot of things she hadn't usually done today. Squad Levi (excluding Petra) gave confused and uncertain looks.

"Why where you ashamed?" Eld asked curiously, and the blonde snapped her head towards him with a forced glare, making him sink back into his seat.

"No reason! No reason at all!" She snapped, a little bit too harshly for her liking. Eld gave a quiet '_sorry' _before taking a sip of his own tea, relishing the flavor of the mint beverage.

"Regardless, she's going to have a field day when we let her get her hands on the both of them. Wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly ended up dead." Levi said monotonously behind the rim of his teacup.

"Of course, it's only a matter of time."

"W-Who are you talking about?" Eren stuttered nervously, and the blonde's eyes lit up in recognition beside him. Caryn knew who Levi was talking about. If she remembered correctly, it was—

_**BANG!**_

"_Ahh!" _

A pained voice broke out from the door behind the Corporal as something ran into it roughly, causing them to jump in alarm. Petra rose from her seat, going over and removing the block of wood that was locking the doors.

When they were opened, Hanji was revealed behind them, rubbing her forehead and grumbling before giving them all a sheepish smile. "I'm so sorry." She laughed good-naturedly, raising a hand in greeting. "Good evening, Squad Levi!"

"You're too damn early," the short-statured male muttered impassively, but the woman ignored him while walking over to Eren and Caryn's side of the table.

"S-Squad Leader Hanji," Eren greeted nervously, his face going a bit pale at seeing the crazed scientist. Caryn didn't blame him for acting that way. She was a very interesting character.

"Hello Eren, Caryn. In case you haven't pieced things together yet, it's my job as the Legion's researcher to essentially poke and prod our captured Titan specimens. For these next few events, I'd like both of you to assist me."

"How can we help you, Hanji?" Caryn asked, tilting her head to the side and skipping formalities. The blonde-haired goddess knew that the woman hated them, anyways, so she decided to respect her wishes by calling her by her first name. "Or should I ask, how are we going to help you," she added as an afterthought.

"Why, you will join me of course!" she blushed, clenching a proud fist as if she was dreaming of something. "By going on a quest of scientific discovery!"

"U-Um, well we would…" Eren said, a bit overwhelmed by the gluttonous scientist. "But it isn't really up to us. We're under orders of the higher-ups, so…"

"Levi, what's on their agenda for later on tonight?"

"Clearing out the weeds in the front." He said inexpressively, and the woman waved a hand in dismissal.

"Great! Then I won't tire them out too much before the expedition tomorrow." She exclaimed, grabbing both Eren and Caryn's hands in hers and squeezing abnormally tight. "We have many things to do, so let's start immediately!"

"O-Okay, but just to be clear, what are we going to be doing? Are we running experiments or something?" Eren asked in curiosity, and Hanji's glasses flashed knowingly in the light. Caryn began to feel uneasy at the look she was currently giving them.

'_Why do I feel as if this is going elsewhere?'_

As if reading her mind, her comrades hissed curses at the teen for starting something he shouldn't have started, quietly getting out of their seats and exiting the hall, their cups still halfway filled with lukewarm tea. While Hanji stared intensely at Eren, she gently removed her grip, stalking out the door and following her squad suit. She felt a little bad for leaving Eren there, but he asked the question, not her. She had a feeling he'd be there until sunrise, if not, maybe longer.

Catching up to Petra, she nudged the shorter girl's shoulder. "What exactly was she going to tell him?"

Petra shuddered, as if reliving something horrifying. "She probably would of told him all about her experiments, including Sonny and Bean. They're her two little Titan pets. We left because she is most likely going to be on that subject until dawn."

So, she was right. Thanking her gut feeling, she gave Petra a warm smile as the continued down the halls, going their separate ways with their comrades and Captain before heading to their own shared room. Levi had went inside his office, closing the door behind him without a second glance at the girls as they passed him.

'_Now, for a hopefully good night's sleep.'_

**(o~o~o~)**

"Caryn, wake up! It's an emergency!"

Swatting away the hand that was shaking her roughly in her warm bed, Caryn snarled at the intruder that was trying to wake her from her much needed slumber. The pestering hand pulled the covers away, and the cold creeped up onto Caryn, making her break out in goose fleck.

Glaring, she opened her eyes to see Petra standing over her, her blankets in hand. Her expression was one of panic, and she was already dressed in her uniform. At this, the blonde calmed down a bit, ruffling her bed-head back and giving the ginger-haired girl a questioning glance.

"What's the matter? Why are you dressed so suddenly?" she asked curiously, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. When they touched the stone floor, she shivered in the chilly room. Petra threw the blankets down, going over to her wardrobe and throwing on her cloak as quick as she could, the wings of freedom sprawled across the back of it.

"The expedition's been canceled!" she shouted, throwing a shirt and pants at the goddess as well as one of her own cloaks. Caryn's eyes widened in unexpected surprise, rushing to get dressed just as Petra was.

"What do you mean, it's been canceled?! Can they do this so suddenly?!" Caryn asked, panic now lacing her tone as she rummaged to get her boots on, not even caring to tie up the laces. She was thankful they weren't the original boots that the soldiers wore, they were much too tight on her calves. These ones thankfully laced. She tied the hanging shoelaces tightly, looking up at the ginger in hopes of getting an answer.

"It's Sonny and Bean!"

"_What about _Sonny and Bean?!" Caryn snapped at her, now annoyed with her. She was woken up much too early, and to top it all off, Petra was half-assing her answers. It was irritating, to say in the least. The next words that came out of the petite girls mouth made Caryn's blood run cold.

"They've been slaughtered!"

**(o~o~o~)**

**Cliffhanger!**

**Normally, I would hate to leave a chapter hanging like this, because I like to keep things going smoothly. But hey, every now and then it's a bit fun to put things like this in the story.**

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It was 22 pages long and I finally finished it in two days (thank god). I might update between another two day period, but if not, maybe three or four. I have a very busy week ahead of me. Wish me luck!**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**~M**


	7. Menace

**A/N: So most of you a probably wondering why I had Levi beat Caryn in a sparring match. I can tell you though, that I had fully meant to for a purpose, and there is a reason as to why she was defeated so single-handedly by him. Of course, I won't reveal why until the story starts to completely unfold, so I ask that you all be patient. It will be worth the wait (;**

**Oh, and don't worry. Our little goddess is going to kick ass very soon.**

**I also forgot to mention that I did change the storyline a bit, so instead of having the recruiting ceremony for the 104****th**** on the day of the expedition, it will be a couple days after. The expedition will follow suit. I hope this does good not to confuse anyone, I just wanted to speed things up a bit. Thanks and continue (:**

**(o~o~o~)**

Hanji was devastated.

Right under her nose, her two Titan test subjects had been murdered, and she wasn't there to do a thing about it. Not only was she devastated, she was furious. So furious that she demanded the culprit be found immediately and punished for their crime against the Legion.

Caryn watched in remorse as the scientist continued to wail in front of Sonny and Bean's corpses that were now only reduced to bone. It pained her to see her new friend in such a saddened state, but only partially. She was actually a little relieved that they were killed. Why would anyone want to hold a _Titan _of all things captive?

"That just seems a little too deranged for me to handle," the blonde muttered under her breath, relishing in the warmth Petra's spare cloak gave her. She was somewhat relieved that at least this particular piece of clothing wasn't too small for her.

"Oi, do you always talk to yourself? Or are you secretly insane like shitty-glasses over there?"

Caryn jumped, startled that Levi had just suddenly appeared next to her. She turned her head, peering into his eyes under the hood that was shadowing her features. "Do you always sneak up on people?" she asked matter-of-factly, earning a glare from the Corporal.

"Don't answer a question with a question, you shitty-brat." He retorted, opting to smack her on the back off the head. When he did so, it felt more like an annoying pat. Caryn almost wondered why he was being so gentle, considering it wasn't in his nature to be. If he kept being like this with her, she'd forget her formalities and it wouldn't entirely be her fault.

"Sorry. I was just thinking…" she tilted her head to the side, troublesome thoughts crossing her mind. "…who do you think could have done something like this? You would think that security would have caught the offender the moment they struck, but apparently not…"

"Tch. It makes me wonder too. The guards must have been doing a half-assed job to just let them slip through their fingers. Either that, or they were sitting elsewhere with their hands in their pants."

Caryn blinked confusedly, not quite sure what he was trying to say. "Pardon?"

Levi paused, placing a hand on his forehead in annoyance. Was she really that innocent to not understand what he was getting at? He shook his head, turning the way he came and walking away briskly. "Nothing, forget what I said. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself while trying to figure it out."

'_Oh, now that's utterly cold!'_

"I'm not going to get hurt! Those times were just accidents!" she pouted at his retreating back, almost wishing she could throw some wind, water, ice, _anything _that would make him turn back around and acknowledge her. Deciding against it, she sighed and turned back around to continue watching the distressed female cry over the loss of her Titan friends.

'_Maybe it really was for the best, but…' _she paused, narrowing her eyes at the pile of bones laid out in front of her.

'_There is something very important we're missing here.'_

**(o~o~o~)**

A few days after the tragic murder event, Petra and Caryn were lounging in their shared room. A soft knock reverberated through the room, and the ginger-haired soldier went to open it. Caryn looked up from rummaging through her bag, hearing Petra exchange a few words with another cadet. She couldn't see who was on the other side of the door, but after a few minutes, Petra opened the door wider to grab a medium-sized package from him, thanking him and shutting the door with her leg.

"Special delivery," she joked, walking over to the curious blonde and setting the package down on her bed. Caryn raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is this for me?" she asked, eyes scanning over the package before carefully placing her hands on the top. She looked at her roommate for confirmation.

"Yep, looks like your uniform finally came," she smiled as the goddess began to open the box, pulling out several pairs of clothing. "Looks like they'll fit perfectly this time. Go on, try them on!"

Everything was accounted for. Her jacket, her cloak, her 3DMG straps, her pants, and her knee-length boots. Caryn cringed slightly at seeing the bottom half of her uniform, disappointed that she had to wear pants. Sooner or later, she'd ask the Corporal for a drastic change. She could move more freely without the straps and pants, especially when she didn't need to use the maneuvering gear. She was perfectly capable of jumping from tree to tree without hesitation.

Quickly undressing and putting the uniform on, she was happy to find that it was indeed less tight then the borrowed uniform she had worn previously, but it still had areas here and there which were uncomfortable. Shrugging, she decided that it just took some getting used to.

"I was right! It _is _a perfect fit!" Petra exclaimed happily, grabbing Caryn's cloak and tossing it at the blonde goddess. She caught the piece of clothing before it could hit her face. "Hurry and put that on, we've got training to do today and we don't want to be late, otherwise Captain will make us run laps."

Nodding to the shorter girl, she threw the cloak over her shoulders, buttoning it at the neck and putting her hair into a pony-tail. It was helpful that even though she slept with it down, it hadn't ruffled itself to the point it needed major tending to.

"Okay, I'm ready. Shall we go?" Caryn gestured to the door, filing out with Petra on her heels. Truthfully, the deity didn't really want to get involved with the 3DMG again, but orders were orders; and being a subordinate, she couldn't disobey them. Unless she wanted another beating, and that was the _last _thing she wanted.

'_Speaking of subordinates…'_

"Say, Petra…" she looked at the girl as they walked down the corridors to the outside world. "Aren't the new recruits coming tomorrow?"

"I believe so..." Petra replied, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Commander Erwin is supposed to head to the moving up ceremony today and convince them to join the Scouting Legion. Since we had to postpone the expedition to a later date, this gives us more time to recruit new cadets and train them so they'll be prepared the day of. Though it's hard to say how many will join this time, usually it's a small, brave amount of soldiers."

Of course it would be a small amount. Caryn couldn't blame them, joining a certain force that fought against the very monsters they had wanted to be away from in the first place was a difficult thing to do. "I see. Well, you can't very well train someone who doesn't have the heart in the first place, yes?" she responded matter-of-factly, and Petra nodded.

"Exactly. With how low our numbers are, any skilled soldier who is willing to fight is sufficient enough. But the ones who replace their fear with a sense of valiance are the individuals who truly seek their freedom and humanity's the most."

The duo chatted, engrossed in their conversation as they walked out of the castle, going their separate ways as Petra went to greet Eld and Gunther and Caryn to Eren, who was currently feeding the horses of the Legion while they stood in their stalls waiting eagerly.

"Good day, Eren," Caryn greeted the green-eyed teen cheerfully. Eren jumped, fumbling to readjust his grip on the feed bucket so he didn't drop it. The horse he was feeding snorted into the feed as if what he just witnessed amused him. Eren smiled sheepishly at the goddess, a faint blush on his cheeks. Caryn couldn't help but snicker at him.

'_Aww, he's flustered. It's actually quite fun to startle him sometimes.'_

"H-Hi, Caryn! What brings you here?" he stuttered, pausing as his eyes trailed down her body. The goddess didn't feel insulted when he did, because she knew he was only taking in her new uniform that was properly fit. "You're uniform came, huh? I-It looks nice!"

"Thank you," she grinned, patting him on his shoulder. "Although I do wish to alter it a bit later on."

Eren looked confused. "You're going to change it?"

"If the Corporal lets me, then yes. I am not used to wearing such tight clothes. Goddesses in Elysium don't wear pants unless we are doing extremely taxing manual labor." She replied indignantly, huffing as she picked at the 3DMG straps.

The green-eyed boy blinked, moving onto the next horse to feed it. "What do you wear, then?"

"Well, we have a very precise way of dressing. Usually we wear dresses and skirts made out of thin, white materials. We also wear plenty of gold and silver jewelry. Personally, I prefer diadems and arm bangles."

"That sounds…comprehensive." Eren added, bringing one of his hands up to rake through his hair. "Do all, um…_Elysians _have appearances like you do too? Or…"

Caryn laughed at his question, shaking her head slightly at his innocence. "For the most part, yes. We do look supplementary divine to humans, but only just. For instance, our eyes are never just one color. And though we do have the same hair attributes and such, color is not restrained in our genes. A deity can be born with red, green, blue, or even purple hair. This is also why my strands are not particularly blonde; they are more white the accounted for."

Eren gazed at the hair on the goddesses head, eyeing it while it was in its ponytail. As if alive and complimented, it ruffled slightly in the wind, and she brushed a stray strand back behind her ear. "That's pretty cool! I wonder what it's like there."

"It's amazing, Eren." Caryn exclaimed excitedly, throwing her hands in the air animatedly. Talking about Elysium always made things better for her. "It's a beautiful, tranquil place; everyone there resides in happiness, and we hardly ever have conflict. Someday, I want to bring you all there. You'd all love it."

Though it was taboo to bring humans to Elysium, is wasn't against the rules. And sometimes, a human with questionable skill was turned into a god if they were recognized by the queen. Caryn understood that her great uncle had been a human-born god; and just like pure-blood deities, he was acknowledged all the same for his impressive power.

"You'd really do that for us?" Eren asked the goddess, astounded. She nodded, giving him a warm smile.

"Of course. But…" Caryn paused, pursing her lips and fingering the button on her cloak. "I don't know how my mother would feel about that right now. I _did _break the most important rule by letting my existence be known. Usually when a human travels to Elysium they're a trusted ally, and even so, it's only an individual. Bringing multiple humans to my home has never happened before. But I'm willing to make an exception, and somehow, I'll convince my mother to as well."

"You're…really generous, aren't you Caryn?"

"I try to be," she winked, and once again, his face reddened to a small extent. She felt his gaze burning on the cut that marred her cheek, the gash now scabbed over but not completely healed. It irritated the goddess to know that she couldn't speed up the process, especially when she knew it was a repulsive yellow color. Perhaps she should cover it up when she had the time?

"Your cheek…" the titan-shifter pointed out, and on impulse, the blonde covered it with her hand.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" she said sadly, frustration lacing her tone as she hid the cut from view. "Captain Levi gave me this when we were sparring. I'd heal it if I could, but unfortunately my powers are limited here." Shaking her head and getting rid of the woeful thoughts, she smiled and took her hand off her cheek, waving it reassuringly. "But don't worry, he didn't leave unscathed either."

"So it's true…" Eren replied, astonished. "You really did fight Corporal! How was it? Is he terrifyingly strong? I mean, I'd know that since he did beat me during my trial, but…"

"He's very strong, just like everyone has said. He _did_ beat me, after all."

"H-He beat _you?!_" his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The teen had thought the goddess would have been stronger than Levi, in many ways. It was hard to believe that he was on the same level as a deity.

"Yes, he did. And fairly, I might add." Caryn leaned against the stall, looking over to her other squad members who were chatting a couple feet away from them, drinking either coffee or tea. She didn't know. "I was rather surprised myself that he possessed such incredible strength."

Caryn was rather glad that Eren hadn't seen her lose to Levi; it was a bit embarrassing to remember how she had cried when she was defeated. Usually, she had accepted her loss with the utmost pride.

"Man, I wish I could have watched." The green-eyed boy said gloomily, staggering when the horse he was feeding face-planted into the bucket diligently. "Captain never lets me out of the dungeon unless he has a job for me to do. And usually, its cleaning." The disappointment was easily evident in his voice as he gave a depressed look.

'_Poor boy, he doesn't deserve such treatment. He may be able to turn into a Titan, but that doesn't make him any less human than he proves to be.' _Caryn thought to herself, but she knew she was partly wrong.

They were interrupted when Gunther called to them from where he was sitting. "Hey, Eren!" he alerted the boy, making Eren turn his head to look at the elder comrade. Caryn took the bucket from his hands to he could pay attention to him and not ignore him. The horse whinnied lowly, nudging her hand playfully before bringing his head back into the bucket.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know if any of your classmates are going to join us?" he asked curiously, and the brunette tilted his head to the side, scratching behind his ear.

"A few, I think. Well, at least there were. I'm not so sure now." He replied vaguely, a dark look passing his features. The sound of hooves were heard in the distance as Caryn and her squad were requested to fall in, the black stallion responsible stopping with its rider. Gunther and Eld saluted Levi as he steadied his horse.

"Saddle up, everyone. We're going on patrol." He ordered the two men. Eren ran to greet the Corporal and Caryn followed suit, setting the feed bucket down and giving the horse a quick pat before trailing behind. Stopping next to Gunther and Eld, the duo saluted their superior.

"Good morning, Captain! Reporting for duty!" Eren said proudly, earning a firm nod from Levi. The ravenette stared down at them from atop his horse, his gaze raking over the blonde goddess next to the teen. She was saluting him, a gentle but determined look crossing her features while she was studied by him. His eyes landed on the cut upon her cheek, a pang of guilt stabbing him momentarily before disappearing just as fast. Levi then noticed the signature cloak and uniform she was wearing, now fitted to her form correctly.

"I see you've finally received your uniform," the Corporal acknowledged, and Caryn dropped her hand from her heart, confirming what he said by nodding her head.

"Yes, sir. A soldier brought it to my room earlier."

"Good. Hearing you complain about the tightness of it was starting to get irritating." He sat a bit farther back on his horse, looking between both cadets now. "Listen up, both of you. You are to stay within ten meters of me at all times. The only reason you are allowed to accompany us is because of my orders. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir!" they replied in unison. Caryn felt mischievousness creep into her as she covered her mouth with her hand, muttering under her breath. "Crystal, sir." Eren heard her, as did her other teammates and they let out muffled snorts of amusement. Levi turned to look at them over his shoulder as he steered his horse away, a scowl igniting on his face.

"Is there something else you would like to say?" he growled at them, and his subordinates stiffened, Eld and Gunther acting like they had no part as Caryn fumbled for words.

"N-No, of course not!" she replied hastily, then added, "Of course not, _sir._" The goddess emphasized the sir, just in case he missed it. Just in case.

"Then move out. Oh," Levi dismounted his steed, walking over to the puzzled blonde and pulling her by her cloak over to the stables. "I almost forgot, you don't have a horse yet do you? There's no way in hell I'm doubling up with you, you're already babied too much."

Caryn blushed out of embarrassment and bashfulness as he tugged her behind him, leaving his comrades to tend to their horses and get ready for departure. The goddess opened her mouth, gaping like a fish before closing it. It wouldn't do any good to argue with him.

He let go when they stopped in front of a couple stalls, and Levi gained the attention of the stable hand, passing words back and forth. He seemed irritated with what the man had been telling him, and he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Not sticking around to listen, Caryn strolled in front of a few horses, taking in their appearances. They were all beautiful and muscular, proof that they were hard-working animals. As much as she liked them, she felt there was something missing.

'_They are not at all like steeds in Elysium. They're much smaller.'_

"What the fuck do you mean, you can't find a horse for her?! Half of these damn animals haven't even been assigned to a soldier yet!" she heard Levi spit at the stable hand, and the soldier shriveled in fear under the ravenette's glare. Even though he was short in stature, the man didn't feel any less intimidated.

"I-I'm sorry, Corporal!" he squeaked, taking calculated steps back from the furious male. "But we aren't supposed to assign a soldier a horse that doesn't fit their personality! And well, um…" he paused, shivering as Levi's gaze stabbed him like a thousand knives. "There aren't any horses that would match hers, the four we have are either untrained or stubborn as mules."

Levi gritted his teeth angrily, grabbing the soldier by his collar and shaking him roughly. He was fuming at how this poor excuse for a stable hand was stalling his departure for patrol. If he didn't get the blonde a horse soon, the raven-haired man was bound to snap.

"Does it look like I give a shit?! I don't feel like being late on the job. Now bring me a damn horse cadet, before I shove my boot up your—"

Before Caryn could grab the back of his cravat and restrain him from mauling the poor man, alarmed yells could be heard from outside the stables, alerting the trio that something was horribly wrong. Letting the stable hand drop to the ground, Levi rushed out of the stables, Caryn hot on his heels.

Once they reached the entrance, a shocking scene had unfolded right before their eyes. Levi's eyes went uncharacteristically wide, and the goddess gasped in surprise and realization.

"Hurry, restrain it! It's too unstable!" Eld commanded his comrades, unsheathing his 3DMG blades and taking on a defensive stance as the black beast in front of them lashed out, sending any soldier near it tumbling away.

"_What the hell is that thing?!_" Oluo panicked, backing up safely when the animal had reared on him, trying to injure him. "We need to kill it before it damages anything else! The damn thing's crazy!"

Before Eld and Gunther could rush at the mysterious creature and strike him, Caryn sprinted towards them and stopped in front of the rearing, dangerous anomaly. She put her hands up, halting them in their place.

"Please, don't hurt him! He's just frightened!" she begged her teammates, and they glared at the beast behind her, their eyes filled with distrust and awe.

"Move away from it, Caryn!" Eld pleaded, trying to usher her away for her own safety. "It's too dangerous!"

A whir could be heard to the side of her, and she lunged in the direction it was coming from. She _knew _that sound. She stopped protectively in front of the familiar being, stopping him from approaching the creature. Levi had his blades drawn, stopped mid-swing from Caryn. She had jumped in front of him the second he had tried to attack the weird being behind her.

"Out of my way, brat." Levi said lowly, dangerously while keeping his eyes trained on the black animal. Caryn didn't budge, returning his harsh gaze with a glare of her own. She would not back down, she knew the creature all too well.

"No."

Levi paused, almost as if he was stunned by her resistance. "_Move." _

"I refuse."

Clicking his tongue, he swiped his blade in front of the goddess, pressing it under her chin and using it to lift her head. Her gaze was firm, resolute, and her hands were outstretched in a protective manner to let nothing get past her.

Levi's grey eyes took a deadly glint to them, ready to strike the disobeying cadet if necessary. He still felt hesitant when threatening to hurt her, but right now, he was protecting his subordinates and the Legion from the dangerous animal in front of them. He couldn't allow her to protect it.

"Did you hear me, cadet? I said to move! Or do you want to be mincemeat too?"

"I can't let you hurt him. He's harmless!" she cried, trying to get Levi to reconsider his actions. "Let me calm him down. I promise, he means you no harm. He's just spooked."

Levi narrowed his eyes at the goddess. Was she being serious? "And why should I let you do that? Why should I let this thing roam free and hurt more of my men? Because that's what you're asking me to let it do." He pressed, still holding up the blade against Caryn's jugular. "You're only in the way. Now I suggest you move, otherwise—"

'_That does it!' _Caryn screamed mentally. There was no coming to an understanding with this man. Deciding to put matters into her hands, she leaned forward, allowing the tip of the blade to nick some of the skin on her throat. A single stream of blood flowed down Levi's blade, causing him to instantly take it away as if he had been burned.

"He is my _mother's familiar!_" She screeched, causing everyone but the animal to go quiet. Some had wondered what a familiar was, and others looked at her in confusion and distress. Wiping away the blood from her throat, she huffed angrily, stomping up to the creature.

As soon as its red eyes landed on her, it calmed down rather quickly and lowered its head submissively. Caryn smiled gently, placing her hand on the base of his skull and patting it. The large creature was now seen as docile next to the goddess.

In short, the creature was identified as a dragon. He was about the size of a Clydesdale horse, with midnight black skin and scales. His eyes were red, the pupils slit like a cats and he stood on all fours with giant bat-like wings poking out of his back. Most would be terrified of such a creature, but not Caryn. Familiars were all too common in Elysium, and this one in particular belonged to the queen.

She continued to pet the nearly dormant dragon on the top of his head, looking back at her squad members. Luckily, the commotion they caused wasn't as drastic as it seemed, and it was only Squad Levi who was present. All of them looked extremely tense as she comforted him.

"Everything is alright now, these humans will not hurt you." Caryn cooed, and the dragon nudged her with his shadowed nose, earning a laugh from the goddess. "See? I told you all; he's harmless."

"We don't know that for sure," Gunther said, standing hesitantly with his blades at the ready. "It seems content with you, but what about the rest of us? It could attack at any moment if we're not careful!"

"What happened when he arrived?"

"He just randomly appeared out of nowhere." Eld replied, eyeing the dragon mercilessly. Caryn rolled her eyes.

"And then what?" she pressed on, and the blonde male began to sweat nervously, looking away from her gaze. And then she realized something. "Oh, for goodness sakes! Did you attack him?!"

"We didn't know what to do!" Oluo snarled, batting a hand in anger. "Imagine what would happen if he wreaked havoc on the Legion! The damn thing's a menace!"

"He is no such thing," Caryn snapped, and the dragon growled at the elder soldier, causing him to take a step back and raise his blades again. She patted him, shushing him back to a comfortable state. "I don't know the reason as to why he is here, but it must be important. He belongs to my mother."

"And just what the hell is a familiar? I know you're not talking about the nostalgic type of familiar. Spit it out already." Levi ordered, lowering his blades and preparing to sheath them. He was still wary of the creature before him, but if Caryn had managed to contain him that easily, he would trust her judgment. Part of him wanted to haul the goddess away and kill it, but the other part was shocked; surprised that such a thing existed.

"A familiar is a being devoid of a single form and can change at will depending on their master's orders. In Elysium, they're very common. A familiar is assigned to a deity when they are born, but neither I nor my brothers have received one to call our own yet. Why, we don't have a clue." Caryn explained.

Seeing that their Captain had put his blades away, his squad followed suit, trusting that if Levi deemed the creature safe, then they would too. As much as they were afraid of the anomaly, it was not as dangerous as a Titan.

Levi's eyes roamed over the dragon judgingly, taking in its massive form. "What's that around its neck?"

"Oh, this?" Caryn pointed to the alabaster white chain that hung from his neck, a diamond-shaped stone stuck to the scales of his skin. "I believe this is a linking stone. It allows the familiar's master to shift it into a being they see fit. Of course, I don't know if I could change his form, but I could try. Hm?" she paused, noticing a piece of paper sticking out from the chain. "What's this?"

The seal of Elysium was on the letter, closing it from prying eyes and the rest of it was embroidered in fine detail. Ripping the side of it—and not taking the time to use a letter opener—she pulled out a smaller piece of paper, unfolding it to read the sentences there.

_-To my dearest daughter, Caryn;_

_I am so very disappointed in you, child. After what I have said to you, you chose to leave four days too early and abandon your post here. Of course, this was not entirely your doing; Kadir is also very much responsible for your escapade to Earth. As much as I am furious about this, it is not what has come to my attention._

_While arriving, you had also revealed yourself to a vast amount of humans. You do understand that it is our sworn duty to keep ourselves hidden from them? By doing this, you have jeopardized us. Luckily the humans do not have a way of traveling here, so they cannot truly harm us. _

_On another note, despite being angry with you, I am also quite proud._

_I understand that it was necessary to reveal yourself while trying to save some unfortunate souls from being devoured by Titans. I admire you for this, you are so young and brave. You had volunteered in both of your siblings' places and took the grave responsibility of aiding humanity. I do not know any other deity as substantial as you. I praise you deeply._

_If you have found this note, it will be attached to Octavian, my familiar. I have sent him to you for your own benefit, as his assistance will become quite helpful. I am not sure how you will go about changing his form at the moment, considering he does belong to me. I now understand our powers are limited greatly if we stay on Earth for too long, so you will need to come home every so often to replenish. If you wish to change Octavian into something different, do your best to press the stone._

_That is all I have to say for now. A messenger will be sent so that we can keep in touch. Please write back, Elysium worries greatly for you every day. Be safe, darling. And do not cause even more conflict then you already have. I am putting my utmost faith in you._

_With love,_

_Mother._

"Oh dear…"

An array of emotions swirled in Caryn as she read the letter sent by her mother. Relief was one of them, but so was guilt. She just prayed that her mother could trust her enough to let her stay a bit longer. It would be a pain if someone came and retrieved her from Earth just to take her back home.

Skimming back over the letter once more, a small breeze blew over her face before it was ripped out of her grasp and into larger, calloused hands. Startled, Caryn looked up to see Levi reading it, his face not showing any emotion. After seeming he was done, he handed it back to her.

"So its name is Octavian, right?" he commented, slate-grey eyes flickering to the scaled beast before returning back to her. "There's no way we're keeping a big ass creature that big in a horse stall. I can't even imagine the mess it would make. And another thing, the other soldiers will shit themselves if they see it waltzing around with you."

"Weren't you listening when I said familiars can change their form?" Caryn scolded her Captain gently, making him glare at her harshly.

"Well then, there's your horse. Be useful and morph it into that." He spat, roughly pushing her closer to Octavian. He was fed up with the many surprises happening today, and wanting nothing more than to get this over with.

Rolling her eyes but not letting Levi see, she set her palm firmly on the stone only to make a red glow emit from it and at first, nothing happened. Everyone waited for a few seconds until the light grew brighter, and Caryn began to visibly sweat as she poured as much strength into the act as possible.

'_This is really eating up a lot of my energy…' _the blonde's thoughts were strained as she proceeded, her vision blurring to a dangerous degree. With a final blast of power, Octavian's form changed, a white light enveloping him as he morphed into a large, beautiful black steed.

Well, _partially._

He was indeed a stallion of his own kind, but still attached to his form were raven-like wings that folded against his sides. Even with the energy she had managed to put into changing him, he had still ended up a mythical creature. And for the better word, a Pegasus.

"Really? A horse with wings?" Levi drawled, a scowl set on his face. "That's not much better than before. He's still gigantic as hell."

Octavian, now in horse form, snorted and tossed his head in annoyance while slightly rubbing his nose against the goddesses head. Caryn sighed in defeat, rubbing her palm against his nose. She had tried to make a more solid animal out of him, but even that was too difficult. "This is all I can do. He does not belong to me, therefore it is twice as hard to change his form. That was the only thing I could do without using all of my energy on him."

Caryn bowed her head, gritting her teeth in irritation. It was frustrating to know that she couldn't use her powers to her full potential and that they were restricted immensely on Earth. She felt the piercing stares of her comrades and looked up again, giving a sorrowful look.

"I am truly sorry. I will take whatever punishment you shall give me." She carried on. Her comrades looked at each other remorsefully, debating on whether or not it would be safe to keep the modified horse in the stables where it could easily be spotted. Levi let out a sigh through his nose, briefly shaking his head before motioning for her to come next to him.

Slowly and unsurely, she made her way towards him and stood in front of him, her shoulders dropping in defeat. Caryn felt a bit muddled when nothing painful came in contact with her, but her relief was short lived when she felt a sharp pain on her bowed forehead. Hissing and reaching up to rub the pain away, she looked up to meet Levi's gaze. His face was completely blank of emotion, but his eyes held amusement when he looked at the blonde.

"T-That's all?" Caryn asked apprehensively, confusion lacing her tone. She was expecting something a little more unpleasant than a simple flick. The Corporal took a second to heed her words until a small, evil smirk etched itself onto his face.

"Are you a masochist or something?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow mockingly and making the goddess blush furiously. "I'm not going to spank you, if that's what you want."

'_He looks too attractive when he does that…' _Caryn thought, panicking briefly when she had realized what she just said. Her heartbeat sped up to an unhealthy degree, making her blush harder if it wasn't already possible. The effect he had on her was just too unsettling.

"N-No! Not at all!" she fumbled, the words falling from her mouth quickly. Her comrades snickered under their breaths at the rare display between superior and subordinate. They noticed that Levi was very calm and teasing around the blonde, despite her skittish ways and where she had originated from. She may be just what he needed to stay at least a bit sane in this deathly world of theirs.

"Hn." His smirk left his face, replacing it with a stoic look as he disregarded his comrades and turned around to approach his horse, removing the reigns from the post and mounting him with easy finesse. His horse tossed its head, welcoming the additional weight and Levi patted it's neck firmly. "As much as I'd like to continue this conversation," he said with obvious sarcasm, even though it was hardly visible in his tone. "We have a patrol to attend to. And you can bet your asses that it will be a long one."

The ravenette's slate-grey eyes flickered back towards Caryn. He waved a hand in an attempt to remember. "Can your…"

Caryn's eyes lit up when he referred to Octavian, reminding him easily of his species. "Familiar?" she corrected. He nodded, gripping his reigns absentmindedly.

"Can your _familiar_ handle being ridden for a while?"

"Of course. I shall go grab his necessities, excuse me."

Without a second glance, the blonde took off towards the stables in search of a saddle and halter for the oversized Pegasus. Levi watched in silence as she disappeared, feeling his horse shuffle its feet. Like his rider, he was feeling unsettled.

Steering his horse around, he began to direct it in the direction Eren and Petra went when they went to retrieve their gear. Oluo made a discontent sound, watching his Captains retreating back with troubled feelings. "W-Wait, Captain Levi! You're just going to let her ride the thing without knowing it's completely stable?!" he asked, finding it plenty ridiculous when Levi had just allowed her to do so without much difficulty.

Levi halted, turning his head to look at the most skilled soldier in his squad. Of course, he had given Caryn his consent with difficulty beforehand. It wasn't an easy subject to continue on. But, had he stayed on the matter much longer, they would be scolded for their tardiness on patrol. "Yes. The shitty-brat has proven to be able to tame him without much effort. So long as she's around with him, it won't matter." His eyes darkened, making Oluo tense slightly. "Is there a problem, Oluo?"

Oluo froze, averting his eyes from the intimidating Captain. He knew that when Levi's mind was made up, there was no altering his decision. And if you had tried, you were surely be cleaning for an immense amount of time, or running laps. The perfect punishment from the ever-stoic Corporal. "N-No sir, I had just thought—"

"Thought what? That I would just let the damned girl do whatever she wanted with him? Not a fucking chance." He said spitefully, continuing on his way with a scowl on his face. "You'd do well to remember just who's in charge here, soldier. Don't question my authority." He picked up speed, bit by bit. "Make sure she's ready within five minutes. I don't want any more distractions, are we clear?"

Gunther, Eld, and Oluo all saluted him, even though his back was completely turned from them. "Yes, sir!" They said in unison. That was all Levi acknowledged before completely disappearing out of sight, exiting to the training grounds.

The trio remained silent for some time before Gunther broke said silence. "That must have been really stressful for Captain. I don't think I've ever seen him like that unless he's on the battlefield."

Eld nodded, agreeing while scratching his head. "Right. He's somehow different while she's around. Usually he'd cut down an enemy, no problem." Pausing, he wracked his brain for possible scenarios, only coming up with a couple. "And why do you think he panicked so quickly when his blade nicked her?"

His comrades shrugged, and Oluo clicked his tongue angrily, clearly not happy that the Captain had scolded him so ruthlessly for just a brief question. "I don't know, but we can't let our guard down with blondie around. God knows something's up with her, and I don't want to be the one to find out."

"Calm down, Oluo. If Captain trusts her, then we should, too. She even saved our lives, remember?" Gunther chided, placing his hands on his hips while looking at the elder male. Oluo just rolled his eyes at his comrades' gentleness towards the goddess.

"Trusts her, my ass!" he snorted childishly, his hands flying up signaling how ridiculous this all was. "For all we know, this could be all a part of her plan to kill us when we're not looking!"

While the three were immersed in conversation, Caryn overheard them, eavesdropping with her head just barely poking out the sides of the stable wall. Luckily, no one had noticed her yet, so she continued to listen.

It hurt her to know that even after all this time, her comrades still doubted her good intentions. She knew that it would be hard at first to gain their trust, but recently, things had gotten worse and worse between them. Lightly kicking herself for it, she made a mental note to completely invest herself in gaining their trust. It was a mandatory manner, not optional.

Allowing her courage to kick back in, she quickly revealed herself, creating heavy footsteps while walking towards Octavian to notify the group of her presence. It had worked, and the trio all stopped their conversation to move their eyes and turn their heads to look at the goddess, who was currently preparing her—now suitable, but not quite—horse.

Fixing a few kinks in the saddle, she propelled herself onto the behemoth horse, situating herself and gripping the reigns to turn towards her squad mates. "I apologize for interrupting, but shouldn't we depart now? I believe the Corporal will be upset with us if we stall any longer."

The three men looked between one another, half in guilt and half in agreement as they sent nods her way, mumbling under their breaths as they retrieved and mounted their horses, taking off in the direction their other comrades disappeared in. Following suit, Caryn kicked Octavian's sides, coaxing him to speed up into a trot. The four of them rode in sync as they began to leave the Legion's headquarters.

Caryn still felt uneasy about everything that was currently happening to her. First, she had volunteered to assist humanity in any way that she could by joining the Survey Corps. Second, she had been beaten senselessly by a certain Captain in an attempt to save her from falling into perilous hands. And third, here she was, training—if not more so—to fight Titans alongside stubborn, curt humans who had little faith in her.

And the outcome of all of this? She didn't know. But, she had hoped all her efforts weren't in vain.

**(o~o~o~)**

**Okay first off, I am soooo sorry about the late update. Please forgive me, I have been ill for these past couple of days and have been sleeping nonstop to get rid of any viruses infecting my body. Another long chapter for your troubles (:**

**This one was a bit shorter than I intended it to be, but we are getting closer to the expedition. Of course, I am adding my own expedition with the 104****th**** included BEFORE the Female Titan Arc commences. How I'm going to add it before that arc, I'm not quite sure, but I will do my best to ensure it's completely blended with the sort. Thank you for reading!**

**~M**


	8. Feelings Confirmed

**A/N: Soooo I have a friend who does authors notes on her story as well, and I mean, EVERYONE does them. Some do it for entertainment, others for information. And a person had the gall to say that it was "against the rules."**

***Takes deep breath* AHAHAHA! That's funny! Yes, it may be against the rules, but no one gets in trouble for it because fanfiction doesn't bother to care anymore. And furthermore, it's a stupid rule that's bound to be broken by authors. I mean, seriously. People are going to add their own notes to let people know how they're doing and/or facts about the story. **

**Anyway enough about that. Like I had mentioned in the last chapter, there is going to be an additional expedition that is done by me before the female titan arc. I'm doing this for many reasons, but those are just what you are going to have to find out (;**

**Thank you for following me so far, and enjoy!**

**(o~o~o~)**

"Umm…Caryn?"

"Yes, Eren?"

"Why does your horse have wings?"

"Ah, I thought you'd ask that. It's a long story, really." The blonde responded to the titan-shifter, patting Octavian's side as she stood next to him, already dismounted in the training forest. It was midday now due to their late departure, but they still had plenty of time to train and patrol before sundown.

Eren scratched his head in half-hearted amusement, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I'd say that it's strange and unexpected, but with the things that have happened over the past week, I don't question anything anymore."

The goddess laughed in merriment, following behind her other comrades to tie her winged-horse up with the others. "I promise to tell you when we have free time. I don't think right now is the best time."

"O-Of course."

"Damn right it isn't!" Oluo barked from behind them, causing them to jump. "It's bad enough that Captain let you keep it! What happens if it somehow gets lose and starts to destroy things?!"

"Bite your tongue off, Oluo. If Captain says its okay, then it's okay. There's no need to be an asshole over it." Petra jibed, punching the man rather forcefully on his arm and making him wince. As if a switch had been flipped, Oluo's face went from angry to sad, pouting at the way Petra was treating him.

"Oh come on, Petra!" he replied petulantly, almost whining like a child would as he threw a hand in dismay at the two younger squad members. "Don't you find it strange how it suddenly just appeared and starting attacking everyone?!"

"He did _not _attack _anyone!" _Caryn snarled, clenching her teeth furiously. Oluo was getting on her last nerve. There was only so much complaining from him that she could take, and she was about ready to knock him out with some wind. "Anyone would have reacted the way he did had they suddenly decided to assault them! You're just too stubborn to take fault for it!"

Oluo glared at her harshly, striding up to her and preparing to size her up. "You little b-"

"_Oluo."_

Eren had stepped in front of the blonde to protect her much to her surprise, but that wasn't what had stopped him from continuing his threatening position. All it took was for Levi to say his name in a frightening tone, and that halted him in his tracks. Oluo was frozen to his spot, not looking back at his superior to acknowledge him.

Levi stood behind him, his face holding no emotion. Caryn shuddered when she felt his angry, annoyed aura coming off of him in potent waves, nearly making her choke. He would really have to start reigning that in, otherwise it would make her sick.

'_Curse the gods for making me sensitive to auras.' _She thought bitterly, rubbing her arm to make the goosebumps disappear.

"Shut your mouth. I'm not going to tolerate any more of your shit today." Walking past him with his horse, he didn't even turn around to look at him. "Either you can it, or I'm sending you back to HQ to clean. Understood?"

"Y-Yes, sir…" Oluo stammered in defeated, his shoulders slumping as he followed suit to tie his horse to the fence posts. Caryn sighed, relieved that she wouldn't have to fight with him anymore. Eld and Gunther had already tied their own horses up, and the rest of her comrades followed closely to do the same.

Both she and Eren hadn't moved from their spots, Caryn waiting for Eren to breathe calmly before looking back at her. She placed a hand on his shoulder gently, causing him to flinch slightly before staring at her over his shoulder. She gave him an easy smile, and he turned around to fully face her.

"Thank you for that. You didn't need to stand up for me." She thanked him politely, and he grinned, waving a hand dismissively while turning and pulling his chocolate mare along.

"It's no problem. I respect Oluo, but I don't think he should be so hard on you or your….um…_horse,"_ he replied carefully, not sure what to recognize the black beauty as. Octavian tossed his head in pride, proud to be called a horse even though he was anything but.

"It's alright. I understand that it's going to take some time to gain his trust. He's just wary of me. It's only been a week since we've met, after all. I don't mind being patient." She said sweetly, laying a hand carelessly on her 3DMG as she walked behind him. "I'm just glad the Corporal stopped him before he could continue. Otherwise, the outcome would have been bad for the both of us."

"I wouldn't have just let him hurt you!" Eren suddenly shouted, going red at his outburst and covering his mouth with a hand. The blonde giggled, tying Octavian up next to Eren's mare. She reached up onto her toes, ruffling his hair messily. The brunette grumbled, fixing the unruly hairs.

"Thank you for being so kind, Eren. I assure you I can handle it myself."

"S-Sure…" he agreed embarrassedly, placing a hand on the back of his neck as his gaze bore into hers. "We're kind of in the same situation, after all. It's nice to know that I'm not all alone in this."

"Oi, brats. Hurry it up." Levi called from a bit away from them, interrupting them. "Eren, you're with me. Caryn, you're with Petra. The rest of you, go do whatever the hell you want. We still have a little more time before we start analyzing the perimeter."

At hearing him say her name, Caryn blushed, hiding it by pulling up her hood. She pushed her white-blonde hair into her face so that it was concealed. The way Levi had said her name gave her chills up and down her spine. It sounded so…_attractive _when it rolled off his tongue. In fact, that was the first time he had said her name. Hoping it wouldn't be the last, she nodded vigorously, walking over to stand next to the ginger-haired woman.

Eren followed behind Levi and the rest of the boys, who had decided to do their training with their Captain. Caryn was glad that Oluo didn't decide to come with Petra and her, because if he had, there was surely to be another argument.

When the other half of her squad took off, the duo stood there watching them leave before Petra turned to the taller blonde. "Well, let's get started then. You remember how to use the gear, right?"

"Of course." The goddess nodded, unsheathing her blades and preparing to aim at a tree upon Petra's command. When she gave the okay, Caryn shot the grapple and connected herself to a trunk, pulling herself along better than she thought she would. This time, there was no difficulty as she landed on the branch swiftly and easily.

Petra gave a yip of success, proud of her blonde comrade for sticking the landing. "Good job, you did that in record timing! Since you're getting the hang of it now, why don't we start moving around a bit more? You can handle that, can't you?"

Caryn nodded eagerly, excited that the idiotic gear was finally working with her. She shot her lines a couple of times to glide from tree to tree, slowly picking up speed each time and enjoying the feeling of wind pressing against her face. It was a thrill to feel her stomach flop every time she lost altitude. When she was finished, she waved a hand to the ginger below her who applauded her. "How was that, Petra?"

"Excellent! You're doing so well!" she praised, making her comrade blush bashfully. It was a rare occurrence when someone learned how to use the 3DMG properly in just a week. Especially when it was rushed onto you.

"Does this mean I can start using the blades now too?" the goddess asked, pleading with her eyes for Petra to say yes. At first, the woman looked hesitant to let her. There were so many trees around, and she could easily make a mistake by crashing into one if she wasn't careful with controlling her speed. Not to mention there were others in the forest that didn't know of her presence. Most of the Survey Corps had trusted the blonde already, but some were still weary of her. Many things could go bad at any moment.

"I don't know about that…" Petra said unsurely, biting her lip. Her emotions were conflicted and Caryn gave a little pout, placing her hands on her hips. "It's not exactly the safest place for amateurs to be using their blades."

"I promise to be careful, Petra. It's only for a little while, so I'll be fine." Caryn persuaded, waving a hand in dismissal. She was perfectly capable of keeping a safe distance from the others and using her gear wisely and effectively.

"Caryn…"

"Goddesses, Petra! I'm not going to learn how to get use to this unless I take some time by myself." The goddess said frustratingly, giving her teammate a half-hearted glare. Said woman frowned at Caryn's defiance.

Petra opened her mouth to make a retort, but was cut off when Caryn ignored her, jumping off the branch she was standing on and speeding away through the trees with her 3DMG, her mind set on showing her comrade just how capable she was of training on her own.

Caryn could hear the ginger-haired female calling after her, telling her to stop. But she had other things in mind. She was going the fastest she had ever gone with her gear, hopping from branch to branch and propelling herself forward with her grapples to get farther away from Petra.

'_Now to find one of those wooden-Titans…there!'_

A couple of meters from her stood a Titan dummy, surprisingly still in-tact. Her eyes narrowed upon seeing it, going as fast as she could to gain the momentum to slice its neck with her blades. Now that she knew a Titan's week spot, she didn't need to use Rogue Sight to find it.

She was going to sow Petra just how well she could use her gear by herself.

Of course, that's what was _intended._

"_Move out of the fucking way!—"_

_**SMACK!**_

The warning came too late. As soon as she got within a couple of feet of the dummy, she collided with an unknown force that smacked into her like a human projectile. A gasp left her throat as her and the other being were thrown to the side, and Caryn's back met with a tree branch as they barreled towards the ground.

And then, everything stopped.

Caryn let out a groan of pain, as did the person she was tangled up with. Her eyes were closed so she couldn't see who the other being was, but she felt herself pressed tightly against someone else as they were wrapped in 3DMG wires, their arms and legs useless and not able to move about.

The goddesses head felt like lead, and she could tell that her back was injured badly when she tried to arch it. Hissing briefly, she opened her eyes to see the other unlucky person who was stuck in the same situation. She regretted it instantly when she was met with a slate-grey glare.

'_Oh no…'_

"C-C-C-Captain Levi?!"

Said Captain winced when she nearly shrieked his name, wishing that he could cover her mouth with his hand to quiet her down. He found himself unable to due to being restrained by his wires. He could feel Caryn's panicked breath on his face, making it harder for him to breathe himself. "Quiet down, damnit! I have a searing headache, and you're not making it much better with that loud ass voice of yours."

"Goddesses, I am _so _sorry! Are you injured?!" she completely ignored what he asked of her, continuing to berate him with questions. Levi clicked his tongue, head-butting her shoulder to get her attention. When a whine of agony left her, he stiffened amicably, regretting his actions. Currently, they were hanging upside-down by their wires, Caryn's blonde hair freed of her pony-tail and Levi's hanging there with the rest of him.

"I'm right here, there's no need for you to fucking scream. And no, other than some cuts here and there, I'm fine. But you're not, are you?"

Of course, he already knew the answer to his question when she had responded to him hitting his head against her. Caryn bit her lip, nodding her head at him. "I seemed to have hit my back on a branch when we…umm…_crashed."_

"About that." He scowled, making the goddess shrink back as far as she could from him. Her efforts were in vain, considering they were pressed too tightly together. "What the _hell _were you doing on your own?! I specifically said to stay with Petra, but your ass just decided to disobey and train by yourself!"

And there it was again. The overwhelming aura that he possessed seeped out of his skin, permeating the air and making it hard for Caryn to take a deep breath. The goddess wondered if he was even aware of it, but considering it wasn't visible to the human eye she doubted it.

"Well? Answer me."

Clenching her teeth, she fought back a witty retort and forced herself to reply respectfully. "I-I just thought that I could show her I was capable enough to train on my own…" she trailed off, the words left hanging as the Corporal gave her a furious glare, the scowl on his face prominent as his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Clearly you're not ready to be on your own yet. Had we been in an actual battle, you would have died," Levi reprimanded her, making the blonde turn her stare to the tree trunk behind him. "You weren't aware of your surroundings, and you were left wide open. A Titan could easily snatch you mid-air and you would become its food, just like that."

What could she say? She knew he was right. But Caryn was independent; she hardly ever asked for help from someone else, let alone needed it. In her current situation, though, it was becoming a habit. All she had wanted to do was to prove her worth to her teammates and show them that she could be just as skilled with her gear as they could. But that backfired when she had ran into Levi in the process of trying to use her blades on a dummy.

"I don't know what to say, other than I'm sorry." She apologized again, waiting for the barrage of insults to come her way. "I ask that you give me an appropriate punishment later, but as for right now, we should find a way to get out of these lines. It's dangerous when blood rushes to your head."

"Tch. You can damn well bet I'm giving you an 'appropriate' punishment." Levi growled, wringing his hands that were behind his back and squirming around, hating the feeling of being restrained. Caryn's body was pushed flush up against his, making his breaths labored. He didn't want to admit it, but pressing his chest against hers caused something to flutter in his heart. "Worried for me, brat?" he asked mockingly, earning a blush from the goddess.

"O-Of course, Captain! I could have really injured you!" she fussed, scanning his face for any cuts or bruises and pleased that she found none. Levi rolled his eyes at the motherly action.

"It's going to take a lot more than this to cause me pain. But never mind that, you're right." Caryn blinked profusely at his agreeing tone, surprised that he actually called her right. "This position is uncomfortable as hell, and I bet that Titan-brat is looking for us, as well as Petra."

Yes, the position was really uncomfortable. But not physically, more mentally. Being this close to her Captain had Caryn's heart beating out of her chest. She was close enough to reach in and kiss him if she wanted to, but she knew that wouldn't sit well with him and would probably lead to an early death by 3DMG blade. Blushing at her crude thoughts, she cleared her throat. "I have an idea. Why don't you try swinging your body left, and I'll try to swing mine right? It may help loosen the lines a bit."

Without replying, Levi shook his head, maneuvering himself to the left and Caryn followed suit. Confirming her suspicion, the lines began to loosen, gradually making it less tight on their bodies and making it so they could move a bit. Grinning, she continued the action. "This is proving to work better than I had originally thou—"

She had definitely spoke too soon.

The branch holding their wires up had jerked, splitting against the additional weight of their bodies and causing them to drop significantly, a few meters lower than before. Caryn shrieked, wishing she had something to hold onto, _anything. _She even would take the risk of latching onto the Corporal.

Her heart jumped into her throat at what unexpectedly happened next.

Due to the violent swaying in their movements, the blonde's head hit the back of the tree trunk, causing Levi to wrench forward and bump noses with her. One of his straps slid to the back of his neck, trapping him there and causing his lips to connect with hers.

Caryn's eyes widened miraculously, her blush reddening tenfold at the shocking but searing kiss. It was an accidental, chaste kiss with no passion behind it; well, maybe not for Levi.

The snow-blondes emotions were running haywire. The kiss felt like a shock of lightening coursing through her body, heat pooling where she had least expected it. Levi's lips were soft. Slightly chapped, but soft as they moved languidly against hers, causing a quiet mewl to escape her mouth. The Captain tensed, leisurely pulling back and giving her a monotonous look. His face held no emotion whatsoever, and then she began to process what had just happened.

She had kissed Levi.

She had kissed her _Captain._

Several deadly scenarios flew through her mind, further frightening her and making her tense to a degree that was like Levi's. Of course, the kiss was an accident; but she had just kissed her superior. There was no way he was going to let something as intimate as that not go unpunished.

Moments passed between the two, and only breathing could be heard as they stared at each other, Caryn red-faced while Levi holding no trace of emotion, not even the infamous scowl he usually wore.

'_What have I done?! Do I have a death wish?!'_

Opening her mouth, she aimed to apologize repeatedly, but was stopped once her Captain leaned in again, capturing her lips in a deeper, more profound kiss. Caryn let out an alarmed noise, trying to move away so that she could speak. She was disciplined and quieted when she felt his teeth sink slightly into her lower lip, causing her to squeak unattractively.

Before he could prod her mouth with his tongue, she tilted her head to the side, freeing her mouth from the extensive kiss. "C-Captain, what—"

"Just shut the hell up, Caryn." Levi growled suddenly, lunging back in for yet another kiss. He tugged at her lip with his teeth, his tongue begging to be let in. Caryn finally gave into the guilty pleasure of it, sinking in to the feeling as their tongues danced. She shuddered voluntarily as she felt him lick the roof of her mouth, earning a low groan from him that sent endless chills racing down their spine.

She realized what she had felt for him now. It wasn't some passing feeling of lust, or a confusing moment between the two of them.

Caryn was in love with the stoic Corporal. With a _human _male. A human male that was stronger than her and more skilled at sparring than she was. A human male with a blunt, sarcastic attitude who was feared by his subordinates and even by some superiors. A human male who had a hard time expressing himself, who was gentler than he had let on.

Nonetheless, she loved him.

The steamy kiss had gradually died down, becoming less fierce and more gentle as Levi finally pulled himself back, allowing the both of them to catch their breath. Caryn was surprised and a bit amused when she saw the slight tinge of pink on Levi's cheeks, disappearing just as fast as she had caught a glimpse of it.

Neither of them spoke. They relished in the comfort of being near each other, basking in each other's presence just like they had the day when they had sparred. It felt similar to that day, only Caryn finally understand why they were so calm and collected. A pang of fear assaulted the goddesses' heart then. What if he didn't feel the same? What if it was just a sudden urge that he needed to extinguish? He was her superior, after all; a relationship would be frowned upon in the Legion due to their current profession.

"Caryn, Captain! Are you alright?!"

The duo broke out of their enchanting stupor, snapping their heads to the sound of their comrade's voices. At a distance, Petra and Eren were speeding towards them, looks of relief and confusion etched onto their features. The solace Caryn felt was palpable when she looked to her teammates. They would finally be released from this position—although the goddess hadn't really wanted to at the moment—so they could fix their gear. Or so, she told herself.

As if on cue, the branch above them began to crack and snap, each time losing more wood that was holding them up. It was dangerously close to snapping and wouldn't hold them up much longer if it wasn't repaired.

Pieces of wooden debris began to fall carelessly around them, some brushing past the goddess's cheeks while others getting stuck in her hair. Stalling their movements as much as he could, Levi turned his head to yell an order to his subordinates. "Shoot your wires to connect the branch back to the tree! It won't break off if something else replaces the wood!"

His words weren't heard fast enough, and it was too late. The branch broke off, sending the duo descending to the ground rapidly. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. The wires around Caryn and Levi loosened, and Levi's arms were freed as he reached out to the blonde deity while she did the same.

Petra shot her 3DMG wire to grab the Captain around his ankles, halting him from falling and causing him to miss Caryn's hands by a few inches. Eren had tried to copy the process, but missed and latched onto the tree beside her instead.

And then she was falling, plummeting towards the ground without anything to grab onto. The wind blew her hair up around her face, obscuring her vision. The goddesses' arms went instantly around herself, her mind beckoning her powers to come forward but finding them useless when she was out of time.

The pain was brief when she hit the ground head-first.

A flash of light passed before her eyes before she could register that she had already stopped falling, and her vision faded from white to black as her consciousness was ripped away from her, far away cries from her comrades becoming blurred and unheard as she was knocked out for the third or fourth time since arriving on Earth.

Things were _not _going as she had planned.

**(o~o~o~)**

**Im sooo sorry for late updates! I have finals this week and the next and they're just so stressful, so I'm doing as much as I can with getting these chapters out for you guys. I'm glad you guys enjoy this story so far, I know I do. I hope the fluff wasn't too rushed, I wanted to gradually spread out Levi and Caryn's relationship so I hope this wasn't too soon.**

**I may not update for about a couple days, But will find time to write during them while studying. I have to keep good grades because my parent's expectations are incredibly high. Thank you for your patience, everyone!~**

**~M**


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